Endless Hurt
by Arichos
Summary: A boy is found on Destiny Islands. No memory, and mysterious circumstances lead to a reunoion of many.
1. The New Kid

"No… their all gone..."

He was falling. Fast. Harsh wind whipped merclessly at the tattered remains that had once been his clothes. His eyelid opened slowly, hearing the wind push against him as he plummeted faster and faster, the sky shrinking away from him...

CRACK! His shoulder blades exploded with pain as he crashed into a dense web of branches, tossing him left and right through their arms, each adding a new cut, fracture or broken bone, but more importantly they slowed his descent before he actually hit the ground, landing spead eagle in a patch of warm sand.

Pain. Lots of pain. His head was dizzy and nauseated, making him puke to the side, only making his injuries worsen thier aggrivation with each vommitus blast from his throat. He started to shiver and tremble as shock set in from internal bleeding, numbing his senses until he cold see nothing but a blur. He tried to move, but the nerve endings in his arms and legs refused to respond. Paralysis was the first word that came to his mind and he started screaming, crying desperatley for help . But moving his mouth and using his vocals seemed to take the last of his energy, and his blurry vision began to fading into nothing. But before he could submit to unconsciousness completely, he felt vibrations of feet running through the sand towards him. Someone had heard him! Struggling to stay awake, he tried to open his eyes again, but could only see two dark shades moving in his direction, one of them kneeling to his side.

"So thats what fell from the sky..." the one standing said in amazement. "Is he still alive??"

"Yeah, he's breathing," another voice answered, crouching over his broken body. "but damn, he's messed up..."

He tried to say something, but his voice failed to sound, and only his lips moved to try and mouth the silent words.

"Are we gonna help him?" the first one asked.

"No derrrr…"

Those were the final words he heard before he completely blacked out, compelling him into a nightmare of screams, darkness, chaos and fire. People being ripped and torn apart by shadows, their was panic and fear in the air, the smell of blood pungent and nauseating…

He woke several hours later, though he had no idea how long he had been out. A soft mattress with sheets had replaced the sand, and again he heard two voices. One was different then before, a timid and quiet feminine voice that sounded nothing like the high pitch of the boy before.

"Where's Sora? He's taking way to long…" the girl asked someone else

"He's gone to tell his mom he's staying here for the night, " the other voice answered, this one familiar. It was deep, serious and determined, but his tone sounded somewhat similiar to the female. "He's probably taking forever to pack up, you know how his mom is."

Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinking them slowly to rid the tears that were trying to moisturize his scalera. It took a moment for his vision to focus, but soon he found himself looking up at the two people taking care of him.

They were twins, both with chin length silve hair and sparkling blue eyes. The boys face was more harsh and ovalish, while the girl had smoot curves and a kinder face. Her hair was a little more graceful then his spikey curtain, and her eyes sparkled innocence.

"He's awake," the boy said, noticing him after a small groan escaped from his lips.

The brother was tall, well built and broad shouldered, the shape of a sword fighter. He wore an odd yellow vest with criss crossing black straps, and dark belted pants tucked into white and purple sneakers. On his wrists he wore black wrist bands and a pair of gloves covered his hands.

His sister in contrast was smaller, skinnier and even a little more pale then her twin. She wore nothing real special, only a gold yellow tank top and black jogging pants, with no shoes or socks to cover her tiny feet. She was very pretty, and her piercing blue eyes held warmth and comfort when they met his eyes. She gave him a small smile, a pendant hanging from her neck that he could feel a kind of power from the glowing stone within it.

"I'm Kinno..." She said quietly, introducing herself. "whats your name?"

What WAS his name? He wondered. His mind was a giant blank at the moment, still disoriented from his injuries. He tried to search his memories, but a headache suddenly spawned from his frontal lobe and spread through the rest of his head until it threatened to split his skull in half. Something in his mind snapped and he closed his eyes with a loud groan as the ache spread out from his head and started to grow in his muscles, making him twitch and thrash to deal with the pain.

Kinno blinked, ready to reach out to help calm him when thier was a sudden violent explosion and she was thrown back by a harsh gust of wind that filled the room, throwing the boy through a wall and out to the beach while the brother tackled Kinno to the ground, taking shelter beneath a desk.

The boy tumbled and rolled in sand, screaming in agony as the inside of his body felt like something was trying to claw its way out of his heart. The sand around him began exploding as if mines were blowing up one after the other. Above him, strange worms of fire and water formed out of the air, stretching themselves out and snaked around in the air in a double helix pattern.

Just as abruptly as it had started, the eruption of magic ceased. The worms dissipated, the sand settled back onto the beach. the subtle glow of the moon reflected the dusty air, lighting up the young boy who laid sprawled on the shore.

The brother twin looked up when everything had stopped, and they both crawled slowly out from beneath the heavy desk, the only object that wasn't in a complete mess. Part of the roof had collapsed in, and their was a gaping hole in the wall from where the boy had crashed through.

Kinno saw him lay motionless on the beach, the waves sneaking beneath him as they washed ashore. She quickly leapt to her feet and ran outside to go help him before he was dragged out to the sea.

His spikey blue hair drifted against the back of his neck as the tide started flowing in, soaking his torn and ripped clothes. Kinno dropped to her knees beside him, flipping his body over so he could breath and she picked him up by the arm pits, dragging him away from the water.

"What the hell was that?" Riku asked as he came out after her, quickly grabbing the boys feet to help Kinno.

"Elemental magic of a powerful nature," she replied whistfully as they laid him down on the softer white sand. "I think it came from these..."

She turned the boys arm around, showing Riku a small, diamond shaped stone embedded in the skin, a bright orange color flickering inside it. On his wrist was another just like it but this one was colored blue. Another was placed at his forearm, and one more on his shoulder, each a different solid color and an additional stone paralleling another of same color on the other side of his body.

"Who...IS this kid..." Riku wondered aloud to Kinno, tilting his head.

"My name…" the boy suddenly muttered unconciously, coughing, "Is Arick..."

Kinno couldn't help but smile. She placed a hand on the back of Aricks neck to help pick him up and carry him once again, but just as her fingers dragged across the glassy surfase of yet another stone, a bright white flash blinded both her and Riku.

Meeping in surprise, Kinno jumped back, rubbing at her eyes as her retina's burned painfully. Riku had been blinded as well, reeling a few feet away from Arick.

A minute passed before her eyes refocused, and she glanced at Arick. SHe had to rub her eyes again, blinking to make sure she was seeing right.

Every cut, every bruise that had riddled his poor body had now all disappeared into scars, some completly gone as if they were never their. Tilting her head curiously, Kino lifted the boys head a little, seeing the white stone where his spine met his neck. Was it a healing stone? she asked herself.

She felt Riku place his hand on her shoulder, and she glanced up at him as he crouched down beside her. "I can get'm on my own," he assured her, taking Arick into his arms.

Sora finally appeared from the docks, jogging towards them with confused expression came over face as his eyes came upon the scene. Their was splintered wood everywhere, and the hut they had built last year now had a large hole in the wall.

"bout time..." Kinno scorned as he came close.

"What the hell happened?" he asked, looking at all the mess Arick had created.

"Don't know," Riku replied. "Don't want to explain," he added, turning away and carrying Arick away to the tree house. Sora looked to Kinno, who just shrugged her shoulders, not feeling like she wanted to explain either


	2. Jagged Memory

Forgot to do this before. Disclaimer to all Kingdom Hearts original characters. Kinno is used with permission of Sailor Crystal, whose character is also featured in Legendary Hurt. Check it out if you have the time.

Arick woke in the morning with a sudden jerk, sitting straight up, panting and feeling slightly dizzy with a head rush. His dreams had been haunted by the same nightmare…people screaming, some running, others torn apart…

He brushed his fingers across his forehead, the images of his dream leaving his mind. His memory was blank. All he knew was his name. The rest was just a blank puzzle with a few jagged pieces put into place. He gazed down at his clothes. His shirt and pants were both black, and both were worn down completely. His shirt had a large gaping hole was across the chest. The sleeves were gone completely, and the bottom hem looked like mice had chewed away at the cloth. His pants were more or less intact, holes in both knees, and they were shredded towards the bottom that only reached up to his ankles. Where had he been that would tear his clothes so many times.

He glanced up as he heard a footstep walking across the floor. He suddenly noticed his surroundings, finding himself in some sort of man-made hut. Wood planks made the walls with a single window looking out over the beach. The roof was made out of dry branches and leaves.

From the door, the girl Kinno walked in carrying a small glass of water and a piece of fruit in her hands.

"thought you might want something," she said quietly, holding out her hands. Seeing the water made him realize how dry his throat was. He took the items gladly, and drained the glass.

"Thanks," he said before taking a bite of the orange piece of fruit. The sweet sugar enriched his taste buds, as if he hadn't eaten something sweet for weeks. "Where am I?" he asked after swallowing, feeling comfortable around this girl.

"A small chain of land we like to call Destiny Islands," the girl replied casually, taking a seat in a chair set up by the bed. She turned her head, looking out the window. "Where did you come from?" she asked.

"I can't remember," he replied, taking another bite. "I woke up, and I was falling…"

Kinno returned her gaze towards him. She stared at him with those piercing eyes. He felt captivated, unable to look away.

"You remember nothing?" she asked.

He nodded. Kinno sighed, and asked another question. "Do you at least know how to control your magic?"

Arick thought for a second. What was she talking about? He watched and followed ash her eyes traveled down to his wrist. He looked down, and saw the stones set into his body.

A piece of information entered his mind like an instruction manual. Yes. He did know how to use them. It was almost like a second nature to use the element stones. He opened his palm, and a bright flame appeared in his hand. He concentrated his thought, and made the fire change shape to his will. He echoed Kinno's face in the flame.

"Quite well, actually," he replied. Kinno nodded, thinking of the events that she had witnessed the night before. The question of how powerful his magic was lingered in her mind.

Another girl entered the hut before Kinno could ask again.

She had short red hair that was cut to about chin length. She wore a white tank top with a purple skirt and shorts. She gazed shyly over at him.

Arick was hit with something in his mind. Her eyes…he knew those eyes…big round, blue…Time around him seemed to slow down as a flash of memory yelled out a single name…

"Kairi?"

The girl stared at him as if he was the strangest thing she had ever seen. "How'd you know my name?" she asked.

"I…I dunno…" he looked down, trying to think. The memory stayed in his mind. She was missing. He had left to find her. Missing from what? Did she have something of his? Did he know her when she was younger?

"Maybe he might know where you come from," Kinno suggested, staring at Arick curiously. Kairi's eyes brightened a little before she smiled. This was not what she expected at all.

"I won't press you," she said, she turning around, and looking back over her shoulder. "Just, anything else comes to mind, let me know, okay?" she added cheerfully before walking out. Her facial expression turned from a smile, to one deep in thought. She didn't want to tell the boy this, but he was familiar to her too somehow. It was like he was some old friend that she hadn't seen for years. Could she finally find a link to her past? Everything was getting weird.

"Whats up?"

Kairi looked to see Sora standing in front of her. She smiled again.

"Nothing," was her simple rely.


	3. Sparring

Back in the hut, their was silence as Kairi left.

"I need to stand up," Arick said, getting off the bed and placing his bare feet on the floor. He stretched out, feeling his bones crick.

Something caught his eye. He held his arms out in front of him, examining his forearms. Multiple red scars played across the light skin all the way from the joint of his elbow up to his wrist. He looked at the other, seeing the same pattern of scars.

"Whats wrong?" Kinno asked, standing next to him, looking down at his arms. How come she hadn't noticed these the night before? Was it too dark to see?

"I don't know why I have these," Arick replied. "And its bothering me…"

Kinno pulled his arms down away from his eyes. "Don't think about it," she said, realizing it might reveal something dark from his past. "Come on, you haven't met Sora." She grabbed his hand and led him outside. The warm sun hit his face the moment he stepped outside The smell of the sea water, the tree's and the warm sand beneath his feet relieved his senses, causing a deep calm feeling to brush through his mind. Kinno let go of his hand, and he followed her like an obedient dog. He glanced down at the sand, and noticed that Kinno wasn't wearing any shoes either. He would soon find out, she never did.

They found Sora talking with Kairi. Both of them looked up as they approached.

"You're the new guy," Sora said and introduced himself, extending his hand to Arick, who shook it. Arick glanced over to Kairi, who gave him a small smile. Something flickered inside his memory, those deep blue eyes of hers, that slight smile, was the same on a younger, smaller girl. A girl that was close to him…

"So, where do you come from?" Sora interrupted his thoughts. The memory escaped him, and he cursed the boy inside his mind.

"Don't know," he said quickly, trying to recapture the image in his mind.

"Their you are," Riku's voice sounded behind him. Arick looked over his shoulder, seeing the other twin carrying a jacket in his hand, walking towards them.

"I couldn't find you a pair of jeans, but this should be better than that shirt," he said, tossing the jacket through the air, and Arick caught it with his left hand.

"Thanks," he said, trying it on. It was a thin jacket, dark-royal blue color with stripes of silver colored thread that ran down both sides of the chest and lined the center of the sleeves. It had a high collar with short sleeves. Other then that, it was a perfect fit.

"What are we going to do today?" Sora asked, becoming bored with lack of activity.

" I have an idea," Riku said. "Lets all spar with the new kid."

Riku's suggestion sparked a certain excitement with Arick. "That sounds fun," he said, wondering where this feeling came from.

"I'm still aching from my last spar with you," Sora said. "I'll just sit down and watch."

"What about you Kinno?" Riku asked his sister.

Kinno shook her head. "Fine," Riku said, turning around and walking away to go grab his wooden sword. "Meet me at the spar area," he yelled over his shoulder.

Sora, Kairi, and Kinno led Arick away. The spar area was basically the most open space on the beach. Arick waited in the center while the rest of them sat a small distance away. Kinno was the only one standing, wondering if her brother could possibly louse.

Riku showed up with his sword in hand and an odd grin across his face. "You ready?" he asked. Arick nodded, forming a strategy automatically.

Riku ran straight for him, sword raised, ready to strike. Arick stood their, relaxed, taking no defensive stance, except for his hands, which were clenched into fists. Riku gave a wide swing towards his chest. Arick dodged the blow, by jumping six feet in the air, a rush of wind carrying him upward. The sword passed through the air beneath him, and Arick gave a hard spin kick across Riku's face.

The boy staggered back, as Arick landed on his feet. A little disoriented, but recovering quickly, Riku returned with a series of thrusts and jabs, which Arick had barely anytime to dodge, ducking and moving as quickly as the sword attacked.

"Who do you thinks gonna win?" Sora asked, watching as Arick did a back flip to gain some space betweeen him and Riku.

"Go Arick!" Kairi cheered, answering his question.

Arick thrust his hand out, sending a ball of fire flying towards Riku. The boy jumped to the side, and rolled to close the space between them. He was caught off guard as Arick threw a punch towards him. He lost his balance a little, but was able to regain it as the fist puched through air. Arick went on the offensive, throwing his own multiple attacks in an artistic form of martial arts. Riku managed to dodge as fast as Arick had done.

The wooden sword came suddenly lancing towards his face. Arick angled his head, feeling it brush through his hair. Riku had left him an open spot to attack. Arick put his hands out, palms facing the ground. The sand exploded into Riku's eyes, blinding him. He backed away, trying to rub the sand out of his eyes with gloved fingers.

Arick stretched his arm out towards the ocean, and a single spout of water rose from the surface, and traveled through the air towards him. He moved his hands and fingers around the formless liquid in a dance like form, seemingly sculpting it into a long thin shape. His hands tensed, and the blue stones on his wrists glowed. The water became hardened into a long, sharp, icicle.

Keeping the icicle floating in his hands, he ran towards Riku. He snaked a kick at Riku's knee, tripping him to the ground. He pointed the icicle towards Riku's face, as if threatening to launch it.

"Looks like I win," he said. Riku nodded his defeat. Kairi cheered loudly as victory was declared, and walked over to them.

Arick let go of his concentration, and the icicle melted back into water, splashing onto the sand. Arick held out his hand to help Riku up, but was refused. Riku stood up by himself and picked up the fallen sword. He looked down at the small toy.

"I need to train harder," he muttered.

"Don't take it personally," Arick said. Riku looked up, and shook his head.

"I don't take it personally. I just know I need to get better now that you're here." He looked over to his sister.

"That was great, Arick," Kairi said, smiling, coming up to hug him.

Another flash of memory suddenly crossed his mind. A picture of Kairi as a younger girl, holding his hand.

"Your great Arick," echoed through his mind.

A sudden realization came to him. Kairi seemed to sense something as well as she wrapped her arms around him. She glanced into his eyes curiously, allowing him to look at her face, making sure she was the same girl.

"Your…you're my sister…" he said finally after a long pause.

A wave of shock and surprise gripped the other three. Kairi just stood their, her eyes staring deeply into Arick's. Is this why she was so familiar to her? Why she felt this connection to him, though she thought she really hadn't met him before? She looked at his face, trying to find any similarities between them. His eyes…they were the same dark ocean blue color…she glanced at the roots of his hair, seeing a dark red tint beneath the blue.

She stepped closer to Arick, and hugged him tightly. A feeling of joy and happiness flooded through them both.

"I've been searching for you," Arick said as small memories played through his mind.


	4. Islands Destruction

Sora, Riku and Kinno watched Arick and Kairi from the tree house bridge. It was nearing sunset, and they were still talking to each other, sitting on the beach.

"You have to wonder what this means," Riku said, leaning against the rear railing, arms crossed.

"Huh?" Sora uttered, not really paying attention. He was sitting on the railing next to Riku, wondering what they were talking about.

"Arick falls from the sky with no memory of where he came from," Riku explained. "And now, he just happens to be Kairi's older brother."

"You don't know if he's older," Sora pointed out.

"Come on," Riku said, gesturing his hand towards the two of them. "He looks older. My point is, do you remember when Kairi first came here?"

Sora tilted his head in thought for a second. "Yeah," he answered. "She washed ashore, and couldn't remember where she came from either."

"Exactly," Riku said. "That doesn't happen by coincidence."

Kinno listened to them jabber on as Her elbows rested against the front railing with her hands supporting her chin. She gazed at the two siblings, wondering what it was like to be separated for so long, and then find each other again. She tried to imagine what it would be like without Riku…and shivered at the thought. Riku had always been their. She didn't believe she could ever be without him.

"Kinno?" Her brothers voice said, interrupting her thoughts.

"What?" she asked calmly, keeping her gaze on the two siblings.

"I asked you why you didn't want to fight Arick," Riku said.

Kinno shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she replied. "I just didn't feel like it I guess…"

That was a lie. Truth was, the night Arick crash landed on Destiny Islands, she had a strange dream that Arick was attacking her. Something about that dream had told her she shouldn't show her fighting ability to Arick at all. Usually she would be able to tell Riku about these premonition dreams, but for some reason, she didn't feel comfortable telling him about this one. Their was some feeling in the back of her mind that forbid her to say a word.

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The three of them returned to the beach as it began to get dark. Riku and Sora were carrying sticks and branches, while Kinno carried a number of round rocks in her arms. Kairi's eyes lit up as she saw them approaching.

"Whats…going on?" Arick said, looking over his shoulder,

"Bonfire!" Kairi said excitedly, standing up and pulling on Arick's arm, who slowly got to his feet, still confused.

Kairi helped Kinno place the rocks on the sand in a large circle. "Whats the occasion?" she asked as she set down another stone.

"To welcome your brother," Sora replied, smiling, dumping the sticks next to the circle.

They set part of the pile of wood in the center, and tossed the rest to the side to be used later. Riku looked to Arick.

"It's your honor," he said, gesturing towards the fire pit. Arick smiled, and flicked his hand towards the branches. A few specks of flame spat on the dry wood, and ignitied a huge fire. They all cheered, ready for the celebration.

The welcoming lasted long into the night. They ran around the island, playing games, racing and sparring(except Kinno). They ate tons of fruit that they had gathered from the island. After hours of playing, most of them were content to sit down by the bonfire, relax, and talk.

"We just need a sibling for Sora and we'd be one huge family," Riku said jokingly. He was the only one that stood up next to the flames

"What are you saying?" Kairi asked. "Aren't we a family now?" She was sitting between her brother and Sora.

Riku shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we'd just be a complete circle if Sora had a sister."

"Who says I don't?" Sora protested. "Maybe I have a brother."

"Come on Sora, look at the pattern here. If you have a sibling out their somewhere, its gonna be a sister."

"Whats wrong with a sister?" Kairi asked as if she was offended by Sora.

"I didn't…" Sora muttered, blushing, "Mean it like that…."

Riku and Kairi laughed, making Sora's face go redder. Arick and Kinno were deep into their own conversation to the left of Kairi. Kinno sat hugging her legs up to her chest, her head looking downward, making her silver hair drift over her eyes. Arick sat a few inches from her with his legs crossed beneath him.

"So, none of you know your real parents?" Arick asked.

"Nope," Kinno replied. "It's the one thing we all have in common. Some people adopted us after granny died, but we never liked them very much. Riku always looked out for me though, and we always spend our time on this island."

Arick nodded, finding himself unable to stop talking. "I wish I could be like Riku to Kairi," he said, guessing at the protective nature of Riku.

"You will," Kinno said quietly.

That was an unexpected reply. He paused for a moment.

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

Kinno slowly turned her head sideways towards Arick, and stared at him with her piercing eyes. Their was a power in Kinno that stopped Arick from looking away from her eyes.

"I know Kairi. If you're her brother, even if she hasn't seen you for years, she'll love you the same way I love Riku," she said.

Arick smiled. Those words felt reassuring.

A sudden strong wind rustled through their fire spot, sending a chill down Aricks spine. The fire roared in protest before it was blown out completely. Everything started to get darker, darker then what the night should be. Arick looked around, standing up as the gust of wind blew his hair into his eyes. He stared Up into the sky, and saw a giant black sphere had appeared, and it seemed to be causing the wind, sucking everything towards it.

"Arick! Look out!" Kairi screamed, pointing behind him. He whipped around, coming face to face with a small shadowy creature with yellow glowing eyes. Starteled, he shot his arm forward, blasting a fire ball at whatever it was. The thing's flesh burned instantly with a loud hiss, and dissipated.

More creatures suddenly appeared around them, surrounding them. Arick stepped away, feeling his back press against Kinno's. Everyone gathered together to defend themselves against the hundreds of glowing yellow eyes.

Arick felt something cold drifted over his bare feet, making him glance downward. A puddle of dark shadowy liquid was growing beneath his toes, and he slowly began to sink as small tentacles of shadow extended from the puddle enshrouded him and pulled him down.

"Kairi!" he yelled as he began to sink faster, squirming in the puddle of darkness. He couldn't move his feet like they were glued flat. His sister whirled around, and gasped, seeing him chest deep in the ground. She ran towards him, and grabbed his outstretched arm. She pulled and pulled and struggled without success, unable to pull him out. She cried out his name as his vision became black.


	5. Lost Again

The wind became stronger as Kairi watched her brother disappear through the liquid darkness. She felt cold as she whipped around, seeing Riku and Kinno struggling, sinking through another puddle of darkness. Sora shouted out something, and was running towards her. Everything in her vision was getting blurry, She couldn't hear anything, she felt nothing. Her body collapsed, and disappeared.

Arick woke up laying on his side. Whatever his face was pressed against, it was cold. He pushed his hands against the ground, slowly opening his eyes. He was staring at a mound of ice sticking up from the water. He stood upright, staring down at his feet, feeling a weird flow against his flesh. He was standing on….solid water. Not ice, but running water. It trickled over his toes, but he was well above the bottom of the pond…lake…wherever he was. He tapped his foot experimentally against the water, feeling a hard resistance. Weird…

He looked up around him, finding himself in a completely different world. He was in the middle of a large valley, with water falls on either side of a cliff face. At first he took one glance at the falling water, and looked again. They were flowing upward…Obviously the laws of gravity were different. Beyond the rising falls was a giant castle overlooking the valley.

"Arick!"

He turned aroud at the call of his name to see Riku standing behind him on top of a tall mound of ice that was flattened on the peak. Arick could see an unconscious Kinno in his arms as jumped down, walking towards his friend.

"At least someone else made it here," Riku said. "I was beginning to think me and here were the only ones to make it here."

"Kairi and Sora aren't here?" Arick asked.

Riku shook his head. "I've looked everywhere."

Something on Riku caught his eye. "Where did you find that?" He asked, pointing at Riku's waist. On his belt was a long curved sword that was designed and shaped like a bat wing.

"I just found it lying next to me," Riku said quickly. "Come on," he said, walking past him towards the castle.

"Where are we going?" Arick asked, following him.

"The castle," Riku answered. "If anyone know's where we are, they'll know. Then we can figure out how to find the others."

"Sounds like a plan," Arick following Riku. They jumped onto multiple platforms of ice that seemed to grow at different heights like a stairway towards the castle. Arick tried to look over the valley as they jumped higher, and saw nothing but clouds hiding the ground.

They finally reached a large stone platform with steps that lead up to an arch. And beyond that, their was a giant stretch of empty space.

Riku didn't stop. He walked straight through the arch, and disappeared. Arick blinked, staring at the spot where he had just thought he would see his friend falling. He hesitated before he walked through the arch himself.

Instead of falling through the air like he expected too, his foot landed on a solid stone at the castle entrance. Riku was waiting for him.

"That was interesting," Arick said, feeling slightly light headed. Riku turned away, not saying a word, walking towards the castle doors.

Arick followed after, wondering why Riku had suddenly became quiet.

Before he took a third step, Arick felt as if he had run very fast into a solid wall. He flew back several feet, feeling like every bone in his upper torso had been shattered. He tried to slowly stand up, swaying slightly. Dizzy and light headed, he tried to focus.

He found himself staring at a giant golem like creature wearing armor, and carrying a giant shield for a weapon, decorated with a beast like face. The creature growled threateningly, drawing its shield back to strike again.

Arick gathered fire in his hands, spreading them out, gathering power, and clapped them together. The flames grew bigger, brighter. Arick could feel t he heat reflect off his face. He concentrated harder, and propelled the flames at the defender, enshrouding it in a blaze.

Riku covered his face, retreating away from the heat, making sure Kinno was safe. He layed her down carefully next to the castle doors, and drew his new found weapon. The flames disappeared, leaving a burnt and angry creature growling at Arick. The defender lowered its shield, and charged. It lumbered towards Arick, intent on smashing him over the side.

Arick slid between its legs, and crawled away.. The thing gave an earsplitting roar, skidding to a halt before it tumbled over the railing. Arick stood his feet, and turned around.

Riku was on its back, his sword plunged deep into its spinal chord. The thing roared in pain, slightly paralyzed. An idea popped into Aricks head.

"Riku, jump!" he yelled. Riku pulled his sword, and back flipped off the defender. While he was in mid-air, the clear stones on Arick'sforearms glowed. He summoned a powerful wind, and directed it at the creature.

The thing stumbled, trying to fight against the torrent of wind. His feet slid against the ground, closer and closer to the edge before tumbling over the railing, and disappearing with a fading cry.

Riku landed, and replaced the sword to his side. He turned and glared at Arick. "Be careful about your attacks next time," he said.

"What do you mean?" Arick said, confused.

"You almost burned the hell out of me and Kinno," he growled, walking back to his sister, and picking her up again. He stood in front of the castle doors, looking up and wondering if they were locked. The doors opened in answer, and he walked inside.

Arick was taken aback. He had never heard Riku talk like that. Something about his voice bothered him. He followed Riku through the doors.


	6. Defeat and Servitude

They walked into a large grand foyer. It was domed shaped with two stair cases on either side of the room that circled up to a door on a balcony.

"Where do you think that goes to?" Arick asked, pointing at the door.

"Dunno," Riku replied. "I'm starting to wonder if their's anyone in the castle," he said. "One way to find out though," He said, beginning to walk to the right stair case. Arick stayed where he was. An ominous feeling creeped over his mind, and he whipped his head around, feeling paranoid.

Out of the air, three small figures appeared, a rattling sound accompanying their appearance. They wore light armor, and had long reddish claws. They attacked Arick in a mad frenzy, tearing away at his face and back.

Riku looked back, hearing Aricks yells. He watched with horror as his friend tried to defend himself. Arick punched around, but was missing as they kept attacking him. Riku ran up the stairs, his main concern being Kinno's safety. He layed her gently next the door, and whipped around, drawing the blade from his waist. He ran off the balcony, and brought the sword crashing down on one of the attacking soldiers. It was sliced completely in half, and disintegrated almost immediately.

Arick focused his power, and blasted one with a ball of flame. Riku span around, and decapitated the third.

"You allright?" Riku asked, sheathing the sword. Arick had three deep cuts across the right side of his face. His jacket was ripped across the shoulder, exposing a deep wound that cut almost to his bone.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he replied, wiping away blood from his eye. The cut on his shoulder was excruciating, but he tried to ignore it. Riku looked over his wounds.

"No you won't be," he said. A rattling noise suddenly filled the room. More of the soldiers appeared, a lot more. They filled the room from the wall to a small encircled space around them.

"Shit," Riku heard Arick mutter. He couldn't have agreed more. His eyes traveled up to where he had lain Kinno, wondering if Arick could clear a path for him to run to her. Instead of seeing her laying on the floor, an old woman cloaked in black with greenish tinged skin walked down the stair case. Kinno was floating next to her. Riku glared at her while still keeping a watchful eye on the dark creatures around him. Arick crouched down, placing a hand on the floor. He clutched his shoulder as he watched the woman walk closer.

The creatures parted, giving the woman a pathway to the two boys. Arick could see she was carrying a scepter in her hand. She wore a head-piece of two ram horns. The word witch flashed through his mind.

"Who are you?" Riku asked, his hand clasping around his sword. Arick felt the pain in his shoulder increase, along with his breathing.

"Let go of my sister," Riku growled.

"Seize the other," the woman commanded suddenly. The soldiers grabbed Arick roughly by the arms and pulled them behind him. Arick cried out, more blood flowed from his shoulder, spilling down to the floor. Riku swore he could hear the bones creak.

"Let them Go!" Riku yelled, letting go of his sword, realizing he was putting both his friend and his sister in danger.

"I'll let the girl go," the woman said. "If you agree to work for me."

Riku looked to his sister, and then to Arick. "And what if I refuse?" he asked.

The woman gave a chilling smile, and placed a hand over Kinno's chest. The girl yelled out in obvious pain as a pink aura started gathering into the witches hand. Riku almost ran at her, but the soldiers quickly grabbed him, digging their claws into his arms and legs. He cried out, feeling their wait pull him down to his knees.

A maniacal grin played across the womans face. The pink aura had hardened into a crystalline substance that was in the shape of a half-heart.

"I'll take the rest of her heart if you refuse," she replied. "I'll kill your friend as well," she added.

"Yes," Riku hissed, trying to ignore the pain. "Just let them go…."

Arick was almost unconscious, barely aware of what was happening. His head hung low, his eyes were half way closed as if he was drugged. The creatures let go of Riku. He slowly stood up, massaging his arms and watching the claw marks as they disappeared.

"You may call me Malificent," the woman said. Kinno floated towards Riku, and was dropped into his arms.

"Take the other one to the prison," Malificent ordered.


	7. Aurora

Sorry, Stephanie, but I wanted to use your character. If I've done anything wrong, tell me, and I might fix it. Disclaimer, character Aurora belongs to Sailor Crystal and Princess Aurora Star

Arick regained consciousness, feeling a sharp prick in his shoulder.

"Don't move or you'll tear the stitch out," a calm female voice said. He realized he was shirtless and lying on the floor. Another prick of pain stabbed through his shoulder.

"I've got one more and then I'll tye it up." Arick felt the final pierce of his skin, and then the wound tightened. "Allright, your done," she said. He pushed himself up with his left hand. He came face to face with dark red eyes and long purple hair that grew down to her shoulders. She wore a light blue tank top and a pair of dark blue shorts that stopped at her knees.

"Hi," she said, making him jump as he realized that he was staring. He shook his head as she giggled. He looked at his shoulder, seeing the stitched wound.

"Thanks," he said, grabbing his shirt that he found next to his knees.

"I don't see why you keep that thing," the girl said as he pulled it over his head.

"I know its got a lot of tears in it," he said, looking down at it. "But its all I really have of my past." He felt a weird feeling on the side of his face as he talked. He wiped his hand over it, brushing away dry and caked blood from his face.

"Where's my jaket?" he asked.

"Its in the corner. I'll sew that hole together to, it'll give me something to do," she said.

"What about sewing this?" Arick asked, pulling at his shirt. The girl stared at him incredously, and then laughed.

"I'm not even gonna try," she said, standing up. "My names Aurora, whats yours?" she asked, parting her hair away from her eyes.

"Arick," he replied, standing up, looking around. He was inside a stone prison cell. There were no windows, and the only source of light came from a glowing white rock set into the ceiling. Their was a thick set of iron bars that kept them in.

"Why are those rocks in your body?" Aurora asked, trying to make conversation with the only person she had probably seen in a long time.

Arick looked down at his hands and wrists, seeing the stones glisten in the light. He sighed, wondering what connection they had with his past. "They give me an elemental magical power," he replied. "The red and blue ones are fire and water. The clear ones on my forearms is air and lightning. The black ones gives me power over earth."

"What about the ones on your back?" Aurora asked.

Arick looked over his shoulder, his eyes kneaded together in confusion. "Theirs stones on my back?"

Aurora nodded. "Theirs five green ones, and theirs a white one on your neck." Arick felt behind him, rubbing his hand over his skin until his fingers touched the unmistakable glassy feel of the stones.

"I don't know," he said, wondering why he didn't realize they were their before. "I know how to use the others, but I didn't even know they were their until you just pointed them out to me." He slumped down against the wall. "I don't know a lot of things."

"Whaddya mean?" Aurora asked, walking over and sitting next to him.

"I don't remember anything except two days ago. I fell from the sky onto destiny islands and…." Arick paused for a moment, thinking how ridiculous he must of sounded. She probably had never heard of Destiny Islands.

"What's that?" She asked, as Arick expected.

"Its where I met Kairi, Kinno, Riku and Sora."

"Sora?" Aurora said suddenly. Her eyes became wider. "What did he look like?"

"Brown, spiky hair, blue eyes," Arick replied. "Really hyper to at that, why?"

Aurora suddenly grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. "You have to help me find him," she said with a more serious tone. "He's the last of my family," she added, almost in a more desperate voice. Arick stared at her.

"You look nothing like him," he said, pointedly looking at her hair.

"Just because we don't look similar, doesn't mean he isn't family," she said, letting go of his shirt. She curled her arms around herself, looking sad. "He disappeared ages ago. When everyone else left, I had nowhere to go. My parents were killed by the heartless, and I hid away. Malificent captured me, and keeps me here. Sometimes she lets me out…to do…other things…" she shivered as she said the last sentence.

The cell door suddenly squeaked open, and Riku stepped in, followed by Malificent. Both Arick and Aurora glared at her. Riku's head was bowed, depression fixed upon his face.

"Their will be more tomorrow," Malificent said to Riku.

"I need some blue sewing thread," Aurora told her. Malificent nodded curtly, and left them alone. Riku walked to the furthest corner, and sat down, curling his knees towards him, trying to close himself off.

"Where's Kinno?" Arick asked.

"Malificent let her go," Riku muttered. "I made sure she was dropped off in a safe place. I'll find her again. I have to work for _her_ now."

After that he remained silent.

In the huddled darkness, Malificent's voice was in conversation with another, a male.

"His heart is becoming darker, the more hatred he has towards you," the other voice said.

"Malificent grinned. "The easier he is to corrupt. His sister is such a useful lever."

"I believe you told me the half of her heart was stolen from you?"

Malificent nodded. "By whom, I have no idea. But he doesn't know, and that fear that I could keep her half heartless will stop him from lashing back at me."

"It does not matter. Soon, when he is finished with your tasks, you must allow him to escape, but keep the others captive."

"What are their significance, if I might ask?"

"One is the sister, the guide, the healer. The other may be the possible child that was lost from the prophecy. But I cannot be too sure.


	8. Escape and Loss

Riku worked day by day. He was the only one allowed outside of the cell, leaving Aurora and Arick to talk.

"The heartless were born of the darkness in peoples hearts," Aurora was explaining. "They steal the hearts of others, and are attracted by the darkness that originally created them."

"So, that's what destroyed the islands?" Arick asked.

"Yes. They seem to destroy each world where they begin to rob people of their hearts. Those who hearts are strong, survive the destruction of their world."

"I don't think I have a strong heart," Arick replied. "I told you what happened."

"I don't know everything, I'm just saying what I was told," Aurora retorted.

The cell door creaked open, and both of them turned their heads. Riku stepped in, and Malificent stood behind him. She waited until the door closed before she left. Bruises covered Riku's face and sides. Half of his left arm looked like the skin had been burned. Riku swayed before he fell forward.

Arick ran and caught him before he fell to the ground. Riku slumped in his arms, causing Arick to bend his knees in order to support the weight. He dragged Riku to a corner and sat him down.

"Did she break anything?" Arick asked. Riku shook his head. Arick couldn't help but smile. He really admired Riku. Every time Riku returned, bruised, battered or some other form of torture, it usually meant that Malificent had punished him for visiting Kinno. To suffer through that pain time and time again just to see his twin…

"How is she?" he asked.

"She's still with Sora. They've sealed another world, and are ready to move onto the next one," Riku answered.

Arick paused for a moment. He was sick of this. He couldn't handle being caged anymore.

"You think you could be able to run?" Arick asked out of nowhere.

"After some rest, yeah," Riku said. "I could run now if I wanted to."

"Good. Were escaping tonight then," Arick declared, his plan of escape already forming in his head. "You think you could guide us to that machine you were talking about?"

Riku had talked about a machine the second day after they had been imprisoned where Malificent would transport him to wherever she wished. He would tell about these great new worlds everytime he would return.

Riku nodded again. "Yeah, but we need to wait. The darker it gets, the less of a chance we'll get caught by Malificent, or one of the heartless."

"How we are we gonna get out of here though?" Aurora asked.

Arick gave a sly grin. "You'll see"

They waited in silence for the time to escape; each stuck within their own thoughts, each sitting in a separate corner of the room. Riku kept running through his mind the way to the machine, and what buttons to press to make it work. Aurora kept thinking of what she would say to Sora, wondering if their plan to escape would really work. Arick was cross-legged, focusing on meditating, boosting the power of his stones.

"I think we've waited long enough," Riku said suddenly.

Arick's eyes snapped open. He stood up, and walked in front of the prison cell door, pulling back the sleeves of his jacket. Riku stood up, grabbing Aurora and pulling her to the back of the room.

"You ready?" Arick asked, looking over his shoulder. Riku nodded, and covered Aurora with his body, bracing himself mentally for what was coming.

Arick spread his arms in front of him, focusing all his power into the stones of fire set into his palm. A bright red glow emitted from his hands, gathering energy.

A loud roar followed by a concussive explosion sounded, and a giant blast of fire exploded from his hands. It roared with intensity as the heat filled the room. Riku was pouring sweat, closing his eyes. Arick seemed shielded from his own magic as he watched the flames attack the iron bars. He held it a few seconds longer, and then let go, dropping his arms to his sides.

The bars had incinerated. What remained were orange glowing columns that stuck out from the floor, still melting.

Arick turned around, breathing heavily. "Lead the way," he breathed. Riku wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked out of the prison, jumping over what was left of the prison bars. Aurora followed, Arick following after her.

Riku lead them through multiple hallways, doors and rooms, pausing for a few seconds every few sections, seemingly talking to himself, thinking of the next rout to take. They tried to be as silent as possible, and fortunately avoided any run into with the heartless. As to where Malificent would be was any ones guess.

They entered through the final door and into a large room. On either side of the wall were glass cases, each with a young girl inside, deep asleep. The hallway led to a small set of stairs up to the main platform.

"Who are they?" Arick asked, staring at each of the girls in turn.

"Their the princesses of their worlds," Riku replied. "I've been kidnapping them for her…" His voice had a harsh tone that nagged at the back of Aricks mind. That tone made him shiver…

"Com on, we don't have much time," Aurora said. They ran up the stairs and up to the main platform. At the wall, their was a giant arch of metal constructed against the wall, with a small control box attached to the side of it.

Riku ran over to this box, and started punching buttons.

"Lets hope we can find Kinno and Sora," Arick said, looking up at the Arch.

"HOW DARE YOU!"

Malificents yell echoed throughout the room. Arick whipped around, watching in horror as the sorceress came floating towards him.

Acting on instinct, Arick crouched to the floor, placing both of his palms flat on the floor. A blazing wall of fire erupted from the ground, dividing the room in half. Arick smiled as he heard Malificents scream of anger.

"I got it!" Riku said, punching in a final button. The machine hummed to life, and the arch filled with a colorful swirl that was the portal.

"Arick lets go!" Aurora yelled. Arick glanced behind him. If he let go now, Malificent would surely stop all three of them from escaping. No, he had to stay.

"Go!" he yelled back. "Ill hold her off!"

"But…"

"LEAVE!" Arick commanded. His muscles were tightening, his mind felt as if it was being crushed. He couldn't hold it for much longer.

Riku grabbed Aurora's arm, and dragged her towards the portal. "He can take care of himself," he said. "Do what he says, he has his reasons." Aurora stared at Riku, then nodded. She turned and jumped through the portal. Riku looked to Arick, who was watching them over his shoulder.

"Thanks," he said. Arick nodded, and Riku dissappeared. The machine shut down, and Arick lifted his palms from the floor. He felt exhausted, tense, and almost choking. If he had held that wall any longer, he probably would have set himself into a minor coma.  
He stood up, swaying on his feet. He looked around, trying to find his enemy. He couldn't see Malificent anywhere…

A hand with a vice grip wrapped around his throat, choking him and lifting him off the ground.

"You defied me," Malificent growled, her yellowed eyes filled with anger. "Now you will pay…"

She let her scepter drop to the floor. In her free hand, a black cloud formed in her palm. She poised it in front of his chest, and plunged it deep into his heart.

Aricks screams echoed. He felt the most excruciating pain spread throughout his body, paralyzing all but his voice. He withered and screamed, in his mind, begging to die…

Malificent let go of his throat, letting him drop to the floor. He vomitted on the ground, whimpering, curled into a ball.

Heartless appeared around him as Malificent's scepter floated back to her hand.

"Take him away," she ordered.

Aurora and Riku arrived in the first District of Traverse town. Aurora was trembling.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" She asked. Riku shook his head.

"I can't say for sure," Riku replied. "But I know Malificent will keep him alive. She needs bait to lure us back. We'll rescue him when the time comes." I promise, he thought to himself. He started to walk towards the Second District to the hotel, but Aurora placed a hand over his shoulder.

"Don't tell Sora I'm his sister, ok?"

Riku only nodded.


	9. Malificents Corruption of Arick

Weeks past. The others didn't see Arick at all, wondering his fate. Kinno and Aurora became strong friends. Arick remained at the castle in Hollow Bastion, continuing the work that Riku had left.

Malificent had corrupted his heart with her own darkness that slowly corrupted his heart, and it made it easier for her to manipulate his mind. On more then one occasion, she tried to make him attack his friends, but he rebelled. The lighter side of him still remained, but it was easy for Malificent to suppress. All she needed was a tool of leverage, and she could make him do anything. The tool was brought to her soon enough.

The cell door behind him creaked open. Arick looked over his shoulder at the approaching figure. Being exposed to the darkness had left a physical mark on him. He barely ate, making his body slimmer, but he always found a way to gather enough energy to be just as active. His hair had grown longer, more of the red roots showed beneath. It drifted over his dimming eyes, showing the dying light and hope inside his heart.

Malificent stalked inside the prison, and this time, floating next to her was Kairi. Aricks eyes widened as his sister floated to the floor. He rushed to her side, holding her limp body in his arms.

"Kairi?"

Her eyes were half-way opened as if she was on the verge of sleeping, but a vacant expression was fixed on her face as if she were in a trance.

"What happened to her?" he asked, brushing his finger tips down her arms, feeling tears burning his eyes.

"Her heart is missing, but she is not heartless," Malificent answered. "Your friends abandoned her.

Arick glared up at Malificent, more tears forming that dripped down his face. "They wouldn't…" he mumbled.

"Oh yes they would," Malificent said, bringing magic into her words of deceit, hiding the tiny grin on her face. "They left her to die. The heartless found her and brought her to me."

A growing fury built itself inside Aricks mind. Hatred grew in his heart as Malificents magic took hold. Riku, Kinno, Sora…They weren't his friends. They knew him for two days. Nobody was his friend. His sister barely even knew him…

"How can I help her?" he asked, looking down at Kairi.

"Bring Aurora back here, and I'll use her heart to replace Kairi's," Malificent lied. Arick stood up, carrying Kairi in his arms, walked out of the prison cell.

"The girl stays here!" Malificent yelled. Arick glared over his shoulder, and a blast of fire appeared in front of the sorceress that made her jump. It disappeared as he turned the corner.

Malificent hated to admit it, but Arick had a magical power that could destroy her. She believed she had enough control over him, and that brought a comforting confidence to her hollow heart.


	10. Arick's Return

Weeks past by, and Arick was not seen by any of them, only theories of his death or imprisonment could be told. Aurora, Riku and Kinno saw him as the one who united them all, and could only hope they would see him again.

Kinno, Aurora, Riku, Sora, and Leon were walking through the main courtyard of the third district, just rested from a recent trip to another planet, and were preparing for their next journey.

It started to rain, which was a rare occurrence in traverse town. Kinno looked up into the sky, smiling as the rain drops played across her face. She loved the water.

"Arick?" Aurora's voice echoed in Kinno's ears. Her head snapped down, glancing a few feet in front of her. Their stood the rain soaked form of Arick. His head was bowed with his blue hair drifting over his eyes.

Aurora was about to leap with joy towards her lost friend. Kinno grabbed her arm before she could move any closer.

"Wait…" she mumbled, staring at Arick, confused. Something was wrong, as the memory of the dream she had flashed through her mind, warning her of danger.

Riku seemed to sense it as well. He walked cautiously towards Arick with the tips of his fingers touching the handle of his sword. In his own mind, he questioned why he was suddenly here, without any mark or show of injury.

"Arick, whats wrong?" he asked, seeing the boy tremble as he stepped closer.

"Its all your fault…" Arick muttered. "You left her…" he suddenly glared up at Riku, who could see the shadowed darkness in his eyes. Riku jumped back, drawing his sword, feeling a chill travel down his back.

"What did she do to you?" he asked in a shocked voice. Leon came up next to him, striding with his gunblade in hand. Kinno dragged Aurora from the inevitable battle. Sora followed to protect the girls.

Arick struck faster then either of them could see. He appeared in front of Leon, kneeing him in the stomach and slugging him across the face. Leon reacted by lancing his sword through Aricks shoulder before he was knocked unconscious by another blow to the side of his head.

Riku stood their, staring as the friend he once knew stood with a long steel blade sticking out of his shoulder, and acted as if it was nothing. Arick grabbed the handle, and slowly pulled the sword from his body. A loud clang echoed as he dropped it to the ground, showing no signs of pain. Riku could see blood flow down the side of his jacket. Arick turned his stance, facing Riku. Sora ran up to take Leon's place behind Arick with his keyblade drawn.

Sora looked to Riku, who only nodded as if they read each others minds. They charged at the same time, yelling out their battle cry. Arick jumped into the air, a gust of wind powered by his stones increased his height. He flipped backwards, watching the weapons clash beneath him.

Like a meteor, he launched himself back at Riku, crashing him into the hard concrete. Sora tried to strike again, but was to slow. Again, Arick flipped into the air, this time with more speed, and landed his feet on the keyblade, focusing all his weight on the weapon. Sora dropped it, unable to hold the weight. Sora's breath was forced out of him as Aricks kick collided into his stomach. Sora's feet left the ground, and he went flying into a wall. He fell to the ground, unmoving.

Everything became silent except the sounds of the rain pattering on the concrete. Arick faced Aurora and Kinno, and slowly walked towards them.

Aurora was crying, her friends spread out across the ground, her brother possibly dead. Kinno stepped in front of her to protect her, her own tears disguised by the rain on her face. She couldn't show weakness in front of Arick. Her dream was becoming true. She would have to fight him, and everything depended on her. Her friends lives, her life, and maybe even Aricks.

"Stop it!" Aurora cried out desperately, staring with disbelief as her tears burned her eyes. She couldn't even feel the cold rain against her skin anymore. "Don't let her control you!"

Arick stopped, staring at Kinno. "Give me the girl, and I'll leave," he said quietly. Kinno shook her head. She tried to focus as flashes of this moment played in her mind. She had the element of surprise. This was it.

Arick was suddenly blown off his feet, skidding across the hard ground. Kinno ran after him, gathering her mental strength to her fists. Arick stood quickly, swinging his hands towards her. Giant meteors of fire raced towards her like orange missiles. She rolled to the right, dodging both of his attacks and closed the distance between them. She punched him twice with upward thrusts, adding the extra mental strength behind her hits. He went flying, spiraling into the air, his blood splashing onto Kinno.

Arick gained control of his body, and regained his balance. He seemed to be standing in mid air as Kinno glanced up at him, seeing his hands glow a dark blue. The rain around him started to condense, falling faster and more rapidly. Kinno ran, hearing hundreds of tiny sharp ice needles shatter like glass behind her feet. She kept running while it trailed behind her, managing to keep one eye on Arick as he continued to descend back onto the ground.

He landed hard, crouching down and placing his hands flat on the ground.

"Kinno RUN!" Aurora yelled, recognizing the spell. Kinno obeyed, shifting her weight and direction just as a giant wall of towering flames exploded behind her.

She felt multiple stabs of pain in her shoulder, arm and back, causing her to stumble in surprise. The ice needles had hit their mark. Her head exploded in pain and dizziness as Arick double fisted the side of her skull. She was knocked to the ground, her lip splitting open as her face slammed against the cement.

She glanced up slowly, pushing herself up on her arms. Arick stood over her with his hand hovering over her, gathering fire and magic into his palm.

"Die," he whispered. Kinno closed her eyes, the tears streaming down her face. She had failed. She had failed everyone. All that had happened, all they had gone through was for nothing. She cried bitterly as she waited for the finishing blow.


	11. Unanswered

Nothing. She slowly opened her eyes, and gasped.

Arick stood their, his eyes wide with pain, his breath choked and gasping. Through his chest was the dark grey metal of the key blade, his blood and a dark liquid substance dripped from the teeth. Behind him stood Sora with the weapon in his hands, a look of determination on his battered face. He pulled back, causing Aricks body to jerk as a spray of blood followed the withdraw of the blade.

Arick stood for what seemed forever, his body arching back. Kinno could see the bloody spectacle of his heart before he collapsed forward on his knees. Kinno opened her arms, catching him before he could hit the ground. He could barely move, paralyzed, he lifted his head slightly, gazing over Kinno's shoulder.

"Kinno…I'm sorry," he spluttered, blood spilling over his lips with every word. Kinno's hand slowly crawled up the back of his neck.

"It's okay," she whispered before her fingers touched the glassy surface of the white stone. She closed her eyes as a flash of white light blinded everyone else. She could have sworn for those few seconds she could hear a sizzling sound, like oil was being fried. She felt him slump against her, and felt it was safe to open her eyes. He was unconscious with no gaping hole in his chest. All that was left was the blood that now stained his clothes and the ground beneath them.

"What…was that?" Sora asked, rubbing his eyes. Kinno gave a tight embrace to Arick before carefully laying him down.

"Something that heals him," she said, staying on her knees. Aurora appeared beside her, crouching down over him.

"Will he be okay?" she asked.

Kinno nodded slightly. "In body, yes, but I think Malificent may have done something else to him. I'm not sure…"

The doors behind them opened, and Aerith, Cid, and Yuffie came running. They overlooked the battlefield, seeing most of their friends severely injured.

"What happened?" Aerith asked, rushing to Leons side.

"Arick tried to kill us," Riku explained, holding his side as he managed to stand.

"He was possessed by something else," Kinno protested. "He wouldn't have attacked us if he was in the right mind."

Riku remained silent. Cid picked up the unconscious Leon. "Let's get you all to the Secret place where you can rest," he said in his gruff voice. Kinno tried to stand, but a head rush caused her to collapse from exhaustion.

A small distance from the battlefield, Malificent stood on a roof with the unconscious Kairi floating next to her. She watched as the injured were carried out.

"Your brother is more trouble then he's worth," she said before disappearing.

Kinno slowly opened her eyes, feeling a bed beneath her and a warm heavy blanket tossed over her slim figure. She tossed the coverings off, and stepped off the bed. She heard a giggle behind her, and she turned to see Aurora.

"What are you laughing at?" she asked.

Aurora pointed at her. "You look cute without any clothes on." Kinno looked down, realizing she was in nothing but her underwear. She searched frantically for her clothes, and found them hanging over a chair. She quickly put them on, and walked out into the hall way. She looked through each room until she found Arick, unconscious on a bed similar to hers. She walked in quietly, drawing up a chair to his bedside and sitting down. What had happened to him? Why did he attack them so ruthlessly? So many questions invaded her mind as she gazed at his face, watching his chest rise and fall with each steady breath.


	12. Internal injury

Okay, I'm putting a divider, because paragraphing just doesn't seem to work on ff. Divider means time passing by.

Kinno stayed by his side while the others recovered from their wounds. Questions she begged to ask swan through her mind as she waited for him to regain conciousness. Besides her curiosity, she felt their was another reason to watch over him. Ever since she had met him, she had felt a strong bond of friendship with him. Maybe Aurora had made it stronger, as she always talked about him when they had been seperated. No matter what the cause, her feelings were still their.

One night, Aurora walked in, finding Kinno asleep with her arms spread across Aricks bed. She left only to return with a blanket that she draped over the sleeping girl. Aurora paused, gazing at Arick's face. She gave into her personal feelings, and slowly gave him a light kiss before she left.

Arick woke the next morning while Kinno was still asleep. His body began to move as if he was trying to move away from something. Suddenly, he erupted into a fit of coughing that startled Kinno to wake. At first she smiled, happy that he was finally conscious. It turned quickly into a look of horror, as a loud gurgling sound issued from his throat before he vomited out a large puddle of blood over the quilt. She yelled for help, causing Sora, Riku, Aurora and Leon all to run in at the same time.

Leon took one look at Arick and immediately rushed to his side with Aurora. Kinno hugged into Riku, who tried to calm her down. Sora could do nothing, only stand and watch. Leon turned Arick on his side as he continued coughing, this time blood splattering from his mouth.

When he finally settled, and his coughing fit ceased, Arick was layed back down, his breathing heavy and labored.

"Whats wrong with him?" Aurora asked. "Can't you use any heal magic on him?"

Leon shook his head. "Its not that simple," he told her. "I don't even know whats wrong with him. And if Kinno is right, the stone on his neck should of healed everything."

Kinno tore away from Riku, and stepped slowly towards Arick. Her mind was in a daze, as if some other voice was telling her what to do. She placed her hands on either side of his head, and closed her eyes, focusing on her mental powers. She had never tried this before, and some outside force was guiding her.

She soon realized she was connected with Arick's mind, and began searching for his conscious thought. It was like walking into each individual room inside his mind, and finding or feeling something different. She found something odd. It was a dark, mysterious presence that didn't seem to belong their…and echoing silence that sent chills down her spine before she was grabbed and pushed away.

Whose their?

Kinno sighed, relieved as she recognized Aricks voice.

"Its me," she said both mentally and verbally. "Your coughing up blood, and I'm here to try and find out why."

I can show you what I think is the cause…

Kinno was rushed into a memory, seeing through the eyes of Arick as if she was in his place. Their was a tight grip around her throat as the cold hand of Malificent held her neck with a choking grip. Malificents other hand was being drawn back, and then was stabbed deep into the center of Kinno's chest. Pain like she had never felt before ripped through her chest, causing her to scream and fall to the floor in the real world. Though her connection with his mind was severed, the dream continued to play out. She could feel Malificents repulsive fingers gripping around her heart, changing, manipulating its essence into darkness…

Kinno's eyes snapped open as she realized the dream was over and the phantom pain of his memory faded.

"Well done my daughter…" a slight and quiet whisper echoed in her thoughts that was not her own.

"Kinno!" Her brothers yells of concern brought her back from her thoughts. "Kinno, are you okay?"

Riku was crouching over her as she laid on the floor, curled up. She shook her head.

"I'm fine," she answered. "And I think I know whats wrong with him."

She stood up slowly, a head rush making her feel dizzy caused her to stumble a little. She gazed over Arick, thinking of the memory that she had just witnessed.

"When he helped you two escape from Hollow Bastion, Malificent took all her anger out on him," she said, thinking of the disgusting fingers that had wrapped themselves around his heart. "She didn't take out his heart this time…she changed it completely. She poured a portion of her own darkness and hate into the half of his heart, and let it grow. He was the one that continued Riku's work."

"How come he didn't attack us until now?" Riku asked. "He had plenty of better opportunities then this one."

"Because Malificent still didn't have absolute control over him," Kinno answered. "Part of him was still their, and his conscience was strong willed against her. Until I guess the darkness inside of him grew to much for him to resist."

Kinno gazed over to Sora. "When you stabbed him through the chest, the key blade destroyed that darkness inside his heart, and left him with what remains. He's half heartless now…like me." She clutched the small pendent that hung from her necklace.

"You didn't start puking blood when you lost part of your heart," Riku said. "It doesn't make sense. Their has to be more to it then that…"

"She's guessing on about half of this," Leon pointed out. "The fact remains, I don't know if anything I could do will help him."

"You mean….," Aurora's eyes were welling up with tears, "Were just gonna let him die?"

"I'll try everything I know, but I can't be sure if it will help if at all. The heart is different then any physical injury. Its more spirit then anything else…"

Aurora started to cry. Kinno could feel her own tears burning her eyes. Leon had spoken in such a way that it put the situation into a blunt and honest point. It was almost hopeless, that Arick would be able to live.

"Come on. We should go," Riku said quietly.

"Yeah," Sora agreed. He gently placed his hand on Kinno's shoulder. "Come on. You've been through enough today."

Kinno brushed the hand away from her shoulder. "I'm staying," she replied.

"Kinno, come on," Riku protested.

"I'm staying," she repeated stubbornly. Riku knew he wouldn't be able to convince her to leave. He walked out with Sora following him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Aricks' screams and yells could be heard throughout the secret place. No matter what Leon tried, Arick would continue to throw up copious amounts of blood every few hours. Leon gave up, telling the two girls that Arick would slowly die within hours from blood loss.

That night, Kinno sat cross legged on the bed, her eyes bloodshot from crying. Everyone else was asleep except for her. She had managed to convince Aurora to leave and rest. Before her friend had left, Aurora gave Arick a kiss upon his forehead.

The same questions kept repeating themselves over and over inside her thoughts. Was their anything else she could do? Was this her fault? Would he possibly live somehow? The premonition dream haunted her thoughts. She knew it would happen….she didn't know it would kill him.

She sat their for hours in silence except for her subtle crying. She was about to louse a friend that had managed to reunite her and her brother. As the tears dripped from her eyes, memories started to slowly play through her mind. Finding him, bloodied and bruised on the beach. When he woke again, and met everyone else. He seemed so happy at the welcoming party…Though it had been short, she felt she had known him as long as she had known the others.

"You wish to save him, don't you?"

Kinno turned her gaze to the source of the voice that just seemed to whisper in her ear. Standing in a dark corner of the room was a figure dressed in a large druids cloak with the heavy hood pulled far over its head to hide itself.

"Who are you?" Kinno asked, her voice cracked and dry. The figure took steps towards them. Kinno could see beneath the flowing robe, the ground seemed to freeze beneath it, and then evaporate.

"The only one that can save him from the imminent death that hangs over him," it replied. Kinno could swear it was a female voice talking to her. It continued to advance until it was standing right next to the bed.

"His heart can't support itself. Its dying as it struggles to stay alive," the woman said with deep and sincere concern. Beneath the hood, the womans eyes could see that her presence was affecting Arick, but not Kinno. The girl didn't notice, but her companion was shivering with cold.

"I'm half-heartless," Kinno said.

"I know child," the woman replied, taking a step back as if to start circling the room. "But that pendant has a mysterious power that keeps you alive. Arick needs something similar, but a lot more powerful. Another heart that one will share with him."

"I'll share mine!" Kinno said immediately. The woman's dark hood turned to face her. Kinno thought she could see a smile within the shadow cast by the hood.

"I knew you would. But there is a consequence to sharing ones heart with another. Are you sure you wish to bear this burden?"

Kinno nodded. "I don't care. As long as he's allowed to live, I'll suffer through any consequence."

The woman paused before she answered back, "With those words, you just binded yourself to this task. The consequence is this: if one heart stops, so does the other."

Kinno nodded once again. "I told you before, I don't care."

The woman gave a relieved sigh. "I can see the loyalty to your friend is strong. This will give you both strength in the times ahead. Embrace him, and do not let go until the union is complete."

Kinno obeyed, hoisting Arick up into a sitting position, she hugged him tightly, closed her eyes, and waited.


	13. Consequences

The magic almost took over immediately. At first she felt really cold…and then a searing pain exploded in her chest. She closed her eyes tightly, feeling tears drip out of her eyes. The pain started to spread to her ribs, her heart feeling as if it was trying to force itself out of her. A light had grown between them, illuminating the room. She felt another searing stab of pain, this time spreading through her entire body. She wanted to scream, but her voice seemed to be paralyzed. Her mind became strained, like a thousand thoughts were going through her mind at the same time. She focused and concentrated on keeping her arms tight around Arick, which was becoming more difficult with each passing second. Desperate to push the pain away, she screamed mentally, and a shattering sound hit her ears as the light and pain faded away.

"You've done well, Blood," a voice whispered in her ear. She fell off the bed, bringing Arick with her as she hit hard against the wooden floor. She rolled away, feeling disoriented and short of breath. She shook her head, and felt dizzy, gasping as she realized something felt very wrong. It felt like…her body was just…out of shape.

"I'm glad to see your both allright now," the voice said again, quiet and gentle. Kinno glanced at the source of the voice.

A small pixie hovered over Arick, who layed on his side, still unconscious. She looked very young with blonde hair that stopped over her eyes and traveled down her back. She had four wings attached to her shoulder blades that made a small buzzing sound. She wore blue and green clothing.

"Who are you?" Kinno asked.

"Slyph," the pixie answered. "A healer summon. And you are my Mistress. My loyalties are to you and those you hold close to you. From those, I shall never stray." She looked down at Arick, and then back up to Kinno.

"You both are finally healing, but you are not without consequence. More so then what was told," She said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Where did you come from?" Kinno asked, still wondering why she felt so weird.

"Your gift of old," Slyph replied. Kinno's hand flew straight to her necklace before she noticed what was wrong. Her hand was a three clawed talon, gripping a broken shard of glass that was once her necklace. It was the same with her other hand. She looked down at her self, seeing her skin in silver scales that covered her body. She looked behind her, seeing a pair of small wings that grew out from her shoulder blades. Even further then her wings, she could see a long scaly tail.

"You gave up what little of your heart you had to save him…you are now the enemy you have been fighting," Slyph told her.

Kinno jumped, looking up to Slyph. "I'm a heartless now?"

"Half…" she answered. "You still have your emotions and your mind."

Kinno's tail felt like the weirdest addition to this form. It lashed back and forth in anxiety. Arick stirred, moving slightly. Slyph flew over, and landed onto Kinno's shoulder, calming her rapidly buzzing wings. Kinno watched as Arick slowly regained conciousness. He pushed himself up, rubbing his eyes, feeling like his head was five times heavier then usual. His vision focused, and he jumped to his feet as he saw what Kinno had become. Kinno was already scared, curled up and away from him, fearing that he would attack her.

"What the hell…" he said in surprise, staring at the somewhat unfamiliar figure with a pixie sitting on its shoulder.

He suddenly fell to his knees, his hand clutching over his heart. The sudden pain in his chest triggered a rush of memories of the past two days came back to him. He slowly opened his eyes, panting as he gazed upon the heartless in front of him. Something knew was present in his mind. Something he had never felt before. It was almost like a second sense that was telling him something.

"Kinno?"

She looked up at him, still shy and fearful of her new form. She nodded slightly, still curling away.

"This is my heartless form…"she mumbled shakily. Arick's hand slowly reached out to her, but she cringed away. He retracted his hand, looking at her with worry.

Kinno spoke after a long pause. "It's what happened after I gave my heart to you…"

"You….you gave your heart to me?" Arick asked, stuttering a little with a mixture of shock and surprise.

"Shared it would better describe it," Slyph said from Kinno's shoulder. Arick stared at the small pixie as if he was about to ask a question, but quickly changed his mind, looking back at Kinno.

"Why? I almost killed you…" He looked down at the floor, feeling ashamed at the memory.

Kinno shook her head. "Malificent was controlling you. She tried to kill us by using you. Your still our friend, and you were dying. I had to do something."

Both looked to the doorway as rapid footsteps approached from behind the wall. Kinno's eyes widened in fear.

Arick took one glance at her, and guessed why she was afraid. He stood up quickly, clapping his hands together, and pulled them apart. A thick cloud of white fog started quickly spreading through the room until Kinno couldn't see two inches in front of her.

"Kinno? Kinno!" She heard her brother's voice call out to her before she was pulled by the arm,a dn dragged from the room. She stumbled as Arick lead her out, running. Arick suddenly crouched down, allowing Kinno's inertia to carry her onto his back. She crashed into his shoulder blades, and hugged her arms around his neck when she realized what he was doing. He carried her on piggy back, guessing his way through the hallways. Kinno heard water splashing as he made it through the water way, and out into the open. Kinno could hear Slyph's wings buzzing rapidly beside her. Arick came into the square courtyard, and jumped into the upper level, making Kinno's stomach feel like it was floating. She gasped in surprise as he leaped again almost immediately after he landed, and flew onto the red shingled roof. He let Kinno slip down from his back.

"Come on," he said, sliding down the peak into the lower part of the roof. "They'll be looking for us once the fog clears."

Kinno nodded, following him into the dip between the buildings. He sat down with his legs bent at an angle so he wouldn't fall any further then he wanted to. Kinno decided to sit on a nearby chimney. Arick watched as Slyph flew to her shoulder.


	14. Terra

Kinno fixed her eyes upon Arick, feeling her skin blush beneath her scales.

"thanks," she said, trying to relax.

"No problem," Arick replied, crossing his arms. "Why are you so afraid?" he asked her.

She looked down, sad and embarrassed. "I guess…I'm afraid that they'd try and kill me. I've become what were here to destroy."

Arick nodded in understanding. "They're gonna be looking for us. We'll have to go back sooner or later."

"Go back!" Kinno exclaimed as if the very thought of it would mean doom. Her tail snapped and twitched anxiously. Kinno jumped as one of the roof shingles dropped as her tail knocked it out of place. Arick sniggered a little.

"I don't think you'll stay in that form," he said, sitting down and loosening up. "Your like this because it must've taken a lot of energy to give your heart to me. I think stress or your lack of energy will trigger the transformation. "

"Yep," the pixie agreed, nodding. "Elements is right."

"Elements?" Arick asked.

Slyph nodded again, smiling. "That's your name. Blood is hers. Summons give their names to their summoner and those close to them."

"Do you know how long it will last?" he asked.

Slyph shrugged her tiny shoulders. "Whenever. It depends on her, really. Honestly, I don't know too much."

Arick nodded. "You should rest," he said, turning to Kinno. "It'll help regain your strength."

Kinno hesitated before nodding. She got off the chimney, and laid of the flattest part of the roof, which was inches away from the very edge. Slyph flew from her shoulder and hovered in the air as Kinno closed her eyes and tried to focus on sleep. Arick could see she was tense mentally, preventing her from an easy rest. He gestured with his finger for Slyph to come closer. The pixie flew right next to his head to where he could hear the steady buzz of her wings.

"Can you help her get to sleep?" he whispered. Slyph nodded and flew back to Kinno, landing in front of her face. The pixie closed her eyes, placing a small hand on Kinno's forehead. Arick watched Kinno's body slowly relax as the magically induced sleep took over. Slyph opened her eyes, smiling before she flew into the air and sat on Arick's shoulder.

"You really care about her, don't you?" she asked. "Is that why you choose not to sleep?"

"Of course I care about her," Arick answered. "I've been sleeping way too long to want to do it again." He turned his eyes to look at the small pixie that sat on his shoulder. "What are you anyway?" he asked.

Slyph giggled before she flew out in front of him so he could see her better.

"I am a summon. One of many creatures that are born from pure magic essence," she said in answer.

"There are more of you?" he said. "That can't be good," he added jokingly. Slyph didn't laugh. She angled her head slightly, confused.

"It was a joke," he explained, seeing her expression.

"But i…I sensed another summon in that room," Slyph said. "She's the one who helped you and Blood."

"I was unconscious," Arick replied. "I wouldn't know. What was she?"

"It was Shiva. The ice goddess," Slyph told him.

"How does an ice goddess know how to bond hearts?" he asked, becoming confused himself.

"Because her summoner knows how," Slyph said.

"Whose her summoner?"

"That's enough Slyph," another voice said before the pixie could say anything else. Arick's head snapped in the direction of the voice. Standing their was a tall elvish woman wearing red travelers clothing. She had long bright sea-green colored hair tied into a pony tail that fell between her shoulder blades. Her green eyes were bloodshot and heavy lines were beneath them.

"You've kept your promise well, Arick," she said blissfully. Arick gazed at her, trying to fix his face to show no emotion in case she was some kind of enemy.

"How do you know me?" he asked, standing up quickly. The woman held up her left hand.

"You have nothing to worry," she said. "My name is Terra."

The name triggered a flashback inside Arick's mind. He was in some kind of bar, sitting across from a man with blonde spikey hair and bright blue eyes, while the woman named Terra stood next to him.

"Be careful," the nameless man was saying. "It's been a while since you've done any teleporting, Terra."

"I'll be fine," she said, nodding.

Arick withdrew from the flashback, staring at Terra. "You sent me to the destiny Islands," he realized. "You started this all."

Terra shook her head, taking a couple steps towards the sleeping Kinno. "Destiny started this," she replied, kneeling next to the girl. "Your memories are still locked away. I may be partly to blame for that."

"You screwed up on my teleportation," he said. Terra nodded.

"I'm sorry. I didn't do it with the intention of you falling over sixty feet to the ground."

Arick paused to think before he asked the next question, thinking about what Terra had said when she appeared.

"What promise did I make to you?" he asked.

"To protect my children," she answered, stroking the silver hair of her daughter. Arick stared at her with a slight hint of surprise.

"You're her mother?" he asked.

"And Riku's," she replied, gazing up at Arick. "And their still alive. Your promise has been kept."

A wave of guilt and shame washed over his mind. "I tried to kill her," he said, his voice lower as he bowed his head.

Terra smiled. If he only knew, she thought.

"She's still alive, and that's all I care about," she told him. "I'll charge you to redeem yourself by continuing your promise."

She saw him nod before he lifted his head to face her. "I'll protect both of them as much as I can," he said.

"I don't exist in their minds," she added. "Do not mention my name to either of them."

"Why are you hiding from them?" he asked.

Terra sighed, standing up. "Its to protect them from their father," she answered. With her keen hearing, she could hear the frantic search cries of Riku. She longed to see her son again, but she couldn't risk being seen. She turned her eyes to Arick. "Remember always your promise to me." With those final words, she disappeared.


	15. Return

Arick carried the still sleepy Kinno on his back, wondering how he was gonna explain all this to Riku once they got back without having it end up in a fight.

"Where are we going?" Kinno asked groggily, her eyes half way open.

"Back to the water way," Arick answered, walking through the alleys. Kinno shook her head.

"No," she protested meekly. Arick sighed, stopping suddenly and letting her carefully slip down from his back. He turned to face her, running through his mind of what he should say to try and comfort her.

"Look," he said, locking his eyes to hers. "Your brother and the other's are out looking for you. Riku is gonna kick my ass when he finds me with you. And your worrying way too much. Their your friends, they wouldn't hurt you, no matter what."

Being tired made Kinno slightly more submissive. She nodded her head slightly. "I guess," she said reluctantly. Arick looked relieved as he turned around to let her climb back up on his back.

The girl shook her head. "I think I need to learn how to walk with this form,"she said. Arick nodded in understanding.

He watched her as she tried, stumbling every few steps. He laughed a little until she taught herself how to use her tail to balance her body on three taloned claws. They stopped in front of the sewer's entrance, letting Kinno take a deep breath.

"You'll be okay," Arick reassured her. "I'm here." He tried to think of anything else that might bring comfort to her, but it seemed she was convinced as she nodded and splashed onward.

They came into the open platform, finding Aurora and Leon waiting for them. Aurora's face lit up as Arick came through the tunnel. She stood up, smiling.

Kinno came slowly out behind him, still shying away, still afraid of being hurt by her friends. Her entire dragonish form was slowly exposed in the light, followed by a gasp from Aurora. Leon looked surprised, recognizing the heartless-looking creature as Kinno.

"What happened?" Aurora asked in shock as she stepped closer to Kinno. Still scared and unsure, Kinno stepped away, keeping her head low and her eyes down at the floor.

"I…My heart became one with Arick," she explained quietly, stuttering slightly.

"It's the form she took after she linked her heart with mine," Arick said. "We don't know when she'll turn back though."

Aurora gazed at Kinno, looking hurt as her best friend seemed to cringe away from her.

"I won't hurt you," she said gently, taking another step towards Kinno. "Your still my best friend…"

Kinno stood their, blinking. Aurora stepped closer, and gave her a tight hug, feeling happy now that she knew both of her friends were okay. Kinno slowly returned the embrace, careful not to hurt Aurora with her talons.

While the other two were enjoying a reunion, Arick locked stares with Leon. The man examined Arick's eyes, looking for any traces of the darkness that once possessed him. He found none.

"Welcome back," Leon said.

"I take it Riku's still searching," Arick said in a sort of question.

"Yes. I was told to send a fire spell into the sky if you two ever returned here," he said.

"Don't waste your energy," Arick told him. He walked back to the water way, and was suddenly tackled by a giggling Aurora. He hugged her back, smiling before continuing on. He stepped out into the starry sky, looking up and seeing a comet zip across the dark. He whispered a small wish, and turned his palms up. Flames started growing in his hands, and slowly started to gather together into a large ball. When it was pretty large, he threw it into the sky, making it explode in a fury of fire.

In less then five minutes, Arick could see Riku running back towards the entrance followed closely by Sora. When he saw it was just Arick standing their, Riku suddenly became angry.

"Where's Kinno?" he demanded as soon as he came close enough. Arick could see Riku's hand was on the hilt of his sword.

"She's inside," he told him. "But theirs something I must explain…"

He told Riku of almost everything except for the encounter with his mother. When he was completely finshed, both of the other boys looked completely confused.

"So…she thought we would attack her?" Riku asked, clearing up a fact that was still baffling to him. Arick nodded. The twin sighed, and walked past Arick to go and see his sister. Arick looked at Sora, who was giving a sly grin.

"Welcome back," he said, offering out his hand.

"Thanks," Arick said, grinning back and giving him a high-five.

They went inside, finding Riku and Kinno talking with Aurora and Leon. Kinno was introducing Slyph, who flew around them enjoying the attention. Arick walked up slowly to the group, still feeling slightly excluded due to the fact that he almost tried to kill them all.

"So what now?" he asked, putting his hands inside of his pockets.

"We resupply and leave," Riku said without really looking at him. Arick nodded, wondering how it would be to fight the heartless instead of helping them. The others left Arick and Kinno alone to go prepare for their traveling. Leon said something about a ship and left.

"You allright now?" Arick asked her. Kinno nodded, showing a shy smile.

"Thanks," she said. Kinno suddenly felt lightweight, and a bright flash of light blinded Arick. She didn't feel scared though…she was completely relaxed. The light disappeared, and Kinno was back in her human form. She looked down at her hand, glad to see five fingers instead of three claws.

Arick suggested she go take a shower. She readily agreed, and left him alone to wait. Arick sighed, walking over to one of the walls. He leaned against the stone, feeling as if he were getting the same doubts that Kinno had before. Would Riku trust him again? Would any of them be able to trust him?

After half-an hour, everyone was ready. They all gathered in the middle of the waterway area. Leon came out, carrying a sheathed sword and a small cotton bag.

"Here," he said, giving the sword to Kinno and the bag to Arick. "You're the only two without weapons that will fight," he said. "I had the moogles make these for both of you."

"Thank you," Kinno said, holding the sword in her hands. She placed her hand over the handle that was covered in a black leather grip that seemed to perfectly match her grip. She pulled it out of the scabbard, and looked at the blade in awe. It was a blue colored steel that seemed to glow with it's own aura. The edges were crafted into razor sharp ends.

Arick opened the bag and pulled out a pair of chainmail gloves. They were fingerless, and as he put them on, they tightened to fit over his skin. Small curved blades suddenly snapped up as he put them on, each traveling down from his hand to his arm, getting bigger in size with each one.

"They told me that armor would block most heavy blows," he said. Arick said his thanks.

"You ready to go?" Riku asked, placing his sword at his waste.


	16. Agrabah

The ship was a large bright colored blocks of material called gummi put together in the shape of a ship. Sora tried to explain how the blocks fused together to Arick, with little success. Riku piloted the ship into space and away from Traverse town while the others hung around on the main deck.

Arick had managed to get Sora into explaining the keyholes.

"Okay, so we look for these holes, and they lock away the heartless from that world?" he was asking as he leaned against the wall.

"Yup," Sora agreed, feeling prideful of his task as the keyblade master.

Arick heard the swish of a sword being swiped through the air behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see Kinno practicing with her new weapon while Aurora watched a small space away.

"How's it handle?" he asked her, turning his back on Sora.

"You would think it was heavy by the shape and size," she said, examining the blade at it's hilt. "But it's really lightweight." She spun it in front of her, swinging it into a blur of motion.

"Were almost their," Riku said, yelling over his shoulder at the others. A few minutes later, the ship began to shake and buckle as it descended to land. Arick heard the engines die as the deck leveled out and they arrived on the new world.

The side door opened, and they were all swept by a sweltering wave of heat. They stepped out into a vast desert with a blaring sun in the sky. Arick shielded his eyes as his bare feet touched the burning sand. Kinno came out behind him, and felt absolutely sick. The bright beacon in the sky made her sweat profusely within seconds, and felt like she was choking on the dry heated air.

Kinno jumped in surprise when a giant splash of water pooled over her, soaking her body from head to toe in icy cold water. She glanced over at Arick with dripping wet hair in her eyes, seeing his hand reached out towards her.

"You look like you were about to keel over and die," he said jokingly. "You gonna be all right?"

"it's this heat," she replied, smiling. "Just keep that up and I'll be fine."

"I thought you couldn't use water magic without a natural resource," Riku said.

"I learned a new trick," Arick replied, flexing his fingers. About a quarter mile away, he could see a large city of white and gold, with a large palace sitting in the center like a sleeping giant. The city of Agrabah.

They walked through an unguarded city gate into a quiet and empty city. The only sign of life was the small rodents that scampered around the buildings.

"This isn't good," Sora said what everyone else was thinking. Arick walked slightly behind the others, and was feeling paranoid, remembering that heartless could appear from nowhere. They were here though…he could feel their empty presence.

He jumped when a puff of black smoke appeared in front of him, materializing a heartless. With a mix of instinct and startled reflexes, he threw his hands forward and incinerated the creature in a mass of flames, reducing it to ashes.

The others heard his warning and drew their weapons quickly as they whipped around. Sora and Riku dashed passed Arick as two more bandit heartless appeared behind him. Riku was quick to slash the thing into three pieces, while Sora clashed his keyblade a couple times against the heartless' broadsword before he could pull off a killing attack.

Three other heartless materialized, surrounding Kinno and Aurora. With her sword already drawn, Kinno slashed twice in lightning fast moves across her opponents, and watched as they dissipated into the air in pieces.

Aurora was laughing at the surprised expression that had been fixed on Arick's face.

"Damn," Arick said, lowering his arms and staring at Kinno. "We all just got bested by Kinno."

"You guys aren't half bad," a random voice said from above them. Arick looked up to see a young man jump down from the roof top. He landed next to Aurora, standing slightly taller then everyone else. He had light tan skin and dark black hair. He wore a purple vest with white pants and a small cup like-red hat.

"If the heartless are after you too, then you must be friends," the man said, lending out his hand to Riku. "I'm Alladin," he said, introducing himself. Arick saw a large saber hanging from the man's belt.

"What's going on here?" Riku asked, gesturning towards the city. "Their's nothing but sand and rats here."

"Everyone's fled from the city in fear of the heartless," he answered. "They've all escaped out into the desert."

"Why'd you stay?" Arick asked curiously.

"The one who controls them kidnapped Jasmine," he said, "I have to get her back."

"Who and where is he?" Sora asked immediately.

"His name is Jafar," Alladin replied. "He's the vizier for the Sultan, but he's trying to gain the throne for himself. He took Jasmine and Genie to the Cave of Wonders."

"Can you take us their?" Riku asked. Alladin nodded, and put two fingers to his lips, and let out a shrill whistle. They waited a few seconds before a small purple carpet with a golden fringe came flying towards them, and stopped in front of Alladin.

"Their's not enough room for me to carry all of you," he said, counting the gang. "Two of you will have to stay here."

"I can fly," Arick said. "I'll carry someone," he told them, reaching his hands towards his back. The clear stones on his shoulders flashed, and a pair of transparent wings suddenly appeared on his back.

"Whose going with Arick?" Riku asked.

"I'll go," Kinno volunteered. The others gathered to sit on the flying carpet, squishing together to make room.

"Just follow me," Alladin said as the carpet rose into the air and flew off. Arick jumped into the air without Kinno, and dived back down to catch the girl in his arms and snatched her by her shoulders, and lifted her into the air after Alladin and the others.

Kinno gave a startled scream in reaction before she relaxed slowly. She then realized where they were going. Cave of Wonders?

"Oh shit," Kinno breathed in a frightened tone.

"What?" Arick asked quickly in alarm.

"I don't like caves," she answered timidly.

"Why?" What's wrongs with caves?" Arick said.

"Lots of things," she said. "but mostly because they're enclosed." Arick looked up again to make sure he was still behind Alladin before staring back down at her in slight confusion.

"Are you afraid of small spaces?" he asked her. She nodded a little, laying her head back a bit.

"It's something that've had since I was born," she started explaining in a monotone voice. "It's an embedded fear….i was pushed and tortured, made to believe I was locked away…like a closet or something. Other times I was blinded before I was beaten. It was easy for them, because I have no defense against mental magic. It's harder with Riku, but he got beaten all the same."

Arick remembered the night Terra had talked to him, and explained why she was lost to their memories.

"_To protect them from their father…_"

Was this what their father did to them? Is that why Terra allowed them to live without any knowledge of their parents? Arick suddenly began to wonder who their father was. Kinno had fallen quiet, pushing back the memories of pain dealt by a person covered and disguised in shadow.

Arick looked down at her again, seeing the water that he had given her earlier was almost completely dried away from her tank-top.

"You want another splash?" he asked her, changing the subject completely. Kinno blinked a few times before smiling a little.

"Sure"

She saw his wrists flash a blue color, and once again a pool of water splashed over her. Kinno gave a huge sigh of relief, closing her eyes as the water rapidly cooled her down.

"Thanks," she said gratefully.


	17. The Cave of Wonders

They continued to fly over the vast without another word passed between them. The further they traveled, the darker it seemed to be until the sky had completely changed to the dark blue cover of the night. Arick watched and followed as the carpet suddenly banked to the left, slowly descending to the sand. Kinno felt the rush on her stomach as he flew downward, and dropped her close to the ground. He slowed his speed a little and landed on his feet as the wings disappeared. They met up with the others.

"Draw your weapons," Riku ordered. "We saw some heartless on our way over here, so be alert."

Kinno drew her sword as Arick pulled on his gloves to tighten them over his hands. They slowly and cautiously approached a large mound of desert sand that was slowly rising and forming into the shape of a tiger's head and jaws. Arick could her a subtle rumbling as it surfaced completely, turning its head this way and that as if stretching it's neck. Alladin advanced in front of them, ready to give the password.

Riku cried out in alarm as three fat bandit heartless suddenly appeared behind them. Arick turned around it time to see them taking deep breaths, and knew exactly what was going to happen. He ran to push Aurora out of the target range of the first. Kinno did likewise with her brother, dragging Aurora with her. The fire balls shot towards Arick, who stood their completely in the open. He crossed his arms, feeling the heat being absorbed into the metal before he was knocked backwards off his feet.

Kinno felt something inside suddenly awaken. She smiled as she heard words in her mind, and turned to the others as the bandits turned their attention towards them, inhaling to take another shot.

"Get ready!" she called out. A high piercing whistle was heard through the air, summoning a large green light that formed in front of them and disappeared. The bandits fired, sending multiple flames toward the party.

The fireballs disappeared, slamming into an invisible wall. Everyone looked to Kinno for an answer. A small green creature materialized beside her. It was a small fox-cat like animal with a large red diamond embedded into the middle of its forehead.

Arick jumped on the back of one of the bandits. He locked his arms around it's neck as it whirled around and tried to throw him off. He held firm, and slid his bladed arm across its neck, thoroughly decapitating it. Riku and Sora attacked the second as Kinno took the third on her own. With four quick strikes in succession, the next heartless disappeared. Kinno quickly jumped on her enemies chest and plunged the sword straight through its neck. The heartless drew a last and quick breath, and blew Kinno away in a hail of fire. She screamed as her left shoulder and face burned away. She landed on her butt in the sand, panting as the pain continued.

Slyph suddenly materialized in front of her, concern over her face. She touched Kinno's forehead, and closed her eyes. The pain faded away, as did the ashen skin that was replaced.

"Thanks," Kinno said, shaking her head and moving her shoulder. Slyph nodded, and turned her attention to the small green creature that was running towards them eagerly.

"Lifemate!" Slyph said joyfully as they met. The others gathered around Kinno, except Arick who stood in front of the entrance to the Cave of Wonders.

"Whose this?" Riku asked, pointing at the one Slyph called lifemate.

"His name's Carbuncle," Kinno answered, picking up her sword. "He projected that reflect spell to protect us."

"Um….Guys….."

Everyone turned around to see Arick staring at the large sand formation. The thing was growling with its snout buried in the ground. It's eyes were glowing a bright red.

Kinno predicted what was about to happen. She grabbed Aurora and ran her away from the attack. The others weren't so lucky. The cave lifted it's head slightly and blew a storm of wind and sand at the others. Riku managed to jump out of its way, landing a few feet behind him. Arick received the full blast, flying through the air and landed roughly on the ground with sand in his eyes. Sora had closed his eyes in time, and was pushed back off his feet.

Slyph flew to Arick, who was spitting out sand, his eyes red with irritation.

"Here," she offered, touching his forehead as well, relieving the burning in his eyes.

"Thanks," he said, standing up. "You and your boyfriend go help the others," he ordered. Slyph grinned slightly.

"Lifemate. Not boyfriend," she said.

"Same thing," Arick replied, rushing towards the giant head. The thing roared as the others tried to attack its eyes. Arick jumped, landing on top of it. He dug his hands into the sifting sand, and poured gallons of water out of his palms. The tiger roared in confusion as it's movements were slowed by the weight of the water.

"Get in!" Arick yelled to the others as the head swerved to the side, opening its jaws in another roar. Riku and Sora made a jump through its mouth, followed by the two girls and Kinno's summons. Arick pulled his hand out of the sand and jumped down, leaping through the closing jaws as they slammed together behind him.

There was nothing but darkness before they heard the strike of a match. Multiple torches lit up a pathway of catwalks and platforms that lead to another room.

"Come on," Alladin said, holding his saber at his side and leading them on. They followed him through three rooms, occasionally dodging a blast of water and booby traps along the way. Few heartless appeared, and were taken care of quickly by Riku and Sora. Finally, they reached the treasure room where a small stone door was waiting to be opened.

All of them charged into the room, weapons drawn with the exception of Aurora, who stayed towards the back. They entered a large square room of yellow alabaster stone and a red and black floor. The center of the floor was a raised platform where the Vizier stood over the unconscious body of Jasmine.

Jafar looked over at them, a sneer pursing from his lips. "You made it, street rat. But your far too late." He held up his right hand, gripping a golden lamp.

"JAFAR! Let Jasmine GO!" Alladin yelled, brandishing his sword. Jafar only laughed. He rubbed the metal, and a large puff of blue smoke issued from its tip. A miserable blue genie appeared in the air.

"What do you want now?" he whined.

"Genie….as my second wish to become a genie of my own master!"

The blue genie turned to face Alladin. "Sorry Al," he said, clapping his hands together. The room suddenly began to shake and rumble, and Jafar was engulfed in a cloud of smoke. Arick jumped in surprise as loud cracks echoed through the room as the floor separated into squares. The group was separated as parts of the floor sank, others rose, some stayed the same, forming a series of platforms in a circle around the room.

The floor beneath Arick shook and rumbled as it slowly rose into the air. He stumbled as the quakes almost threw him off balance. He spread his arms out in an attempt to stop his fall, and almost slipped over the edge. He gained a brief glance at the floor below, which had become a giant pool of steaming molten lava.

The cloud of smoke dissipated, revealing a large, red muscle bound genie laughing maniacally.

"Now, I will destroy you all!" Jafar declared, his voice booming. Giant balls of fire instantly formed in his hands, and were launched at Kinno and Riku.

Arick saw them both in danger, and leapt onto the platform next to him, and jumped in front of the twins, holding his hands out wide.

Kinno opened her eyes, seeing Arick holding a humongous sphere of inferno in his hands. His face was strained and sweating with his hands glowing a bright red that held the flames. With a tremendous effort, he threw it back at the genie, who simply batted it away with a single hand. The fireball exploded on the wall behind him.

"Come on, throw some more," Arick taunted, drawing out Jafar's anger. The genie roared with fury, and began firing rapidly at Arick, who jumped from platform to platform, dodging his attacks and continuing to taunt him, drawing attention away from Riku and Kinno.

"Lets go!" Riku said, grabbing his sword and jumping away to position himself to attack. Kinno remained where she stood, holding her sword high over her head, and swung it towards the distracted evil genie. The sword began to spin rapidly, and Kinno used her mental powers to guide it to impale itself in the eye of Jafar.

The genie screamed in pain, clutching his eye as the sword was pulled magically and returned to Kinno's hand. She beckoned the summons to follow her as she dropped down to the next platform as Jafar swung his arms wildly in a mad rage. Kinno looked at the others, seeing Riku and Sora attack where they could, jumping quickly on and off Jafar, stabbing him in the neck, shoulders and head, wherever they could before quickly jumping away before they're enemy could counter. Arick summoned large chunks of rock from the walls, launching them at the enraged Jafar.

The genie suddenly slammed his hands against the two closest platforms, shaking the entire foundation. Kinno managed to keep her balance, but felt a sudden wave of heat wash over her. The lava below had swelled, launching itself in waves against the wall in reaction to Jafar's anger. One of these waves has rose behind her, bringing an intense heat wave with it.

Kinno fell to her knees, and fainted from heat exhaustion with her body covered in sweat.


	18. Back to Hollow Bastion

She opened her eyes to see Arick crouching over her, looking down at her with worry. She was once again soaked in water, feeling dizzy and nauseated.

Suddenly he curled his arms beneath her, picking her up as he jumped away from the platform. Another fireball exploded behind him, right where they were standing not three seconds before.. Riku and Sora attacked again, drawing the attention of Jafar.

"Can you stand?" Arick asked her. Kinno nodded, and dropped from his arms. She summoned her sword to her hands, and her summons appeared behind her.

"Alladin said the lamp is his weakness," Arick said, clutching his fists and powering his stones. " I think that stupid bird has it, flying around in here somewhere. We'll keep Jafar distracted. Look for the bird."

Kinno nodded as Arick leaped away , summoning more chunks of rock from the wall to bombard the evil genie. Kinno scanned across the air, looking for a small red parrot. A flash of gold and Kinno spotted him flying close to the upper corner of the ceiling.

"Slyph, can you grab that lamp?" Kinno asked. Slyph hesitated a little, and nodded, realizing she didn't need to fight at all. Her wings buzzing, she took off like a rocket towards the bird. Slyph snatched it away from his talons, and turned around, zipping back towards Kinno.

"Hey, bring that back!" The red parrot screeched, chasing after her. Slyph flew faster, and dropped the lamp into Kinno's hands. She rested on her summoner's shoulder, panting. The parrot was suddenly thrown against the wall by Kinno's mental power. She took the lamp, and smashed it against the corner of the stone platform.

Jafar screamed as the shattered pieces fell into the lava below. The genie exploded in a puff of smoke, sending a shock wave that knocked them all off their feet. The room suddenly returned to its original form. Everyone was breathing heavily, all with their own cuts, burns and bruises.

Arick stood up quickly as he saw Jasmine's feet disappearing behind the door.

"Hey!" he yelled, sprinting at the closing stone door and ran out into the treasure room. The door crashed shut behind him as he stared with wide eyes at Malificent.

The sorceress stood with a smile crossing her face as four bandit heartless carried the unconscious body of Jasmine to her.

"Hello Arick," she said as if she was expecting him, her smile growing into a smirk.

"What do you want?" Arick demanded, glaring at the evil witch. Malificent tsked him, shaking her head tauntingly.

"Did you forget I hold your sisters life in my hands?" she said, smiling again.

Arick felt his stomach drop and his head spinning. How could he have forgotten about her? Someone was pounding on the other side of the door. His friends were locked out. His sister was in danger…

"I still have tasks only you can achieve," Malificent continued. "If you refuse, your sister will pay the price for your defiance." Tears formed in his eyes as he bowed his head in defeat, nodding. The sorceress grinned, waving her cloak and making them all disappear.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -

Riku slammed his shoulder repeatedly against the door that seemed to seal itself against him. Finally after several tries, it gave way and Riku tumbled into the treasure room. He glanced around, seeing neither Arick or Jasmine.

"Dammit!" he yelled, punching the wall.

"Mistress, what's wrong?" Slyph's voice reached his ears. He turned around in surprise, and saw Kinno on her knees, hunched over with her hand on her stomach. Both of her summons fretted next to her, the young Carbuncle whistling in concern, trying to get her to talk. Riku started to dash towards her, but she cried out in pain before he could reach her. The transformation started again, her hands tunring into talons, the scales stated to cover her body. Her wings burst out from her back as the tail sprouted. Kinno started to calm down after the transformation had finished.

She stood up, looking at everyone that was staring at her with worry. "I'm allright," she said, stretching out her wings and tail. "It's not fun, but this is what happened the first time,"she explained.

"Why did you change?" Sora asked.

"Heat exhaustion," she answered quickly. "Anyway, I'm going after him."

"No, you can't!" her brother protested.

"I'm going. I can sense him in this form. He's in a prison, and I'm the only one who could find him." Riku flinched before looking down.

"I'm going," she declared before vanishing with her summons.

She reappeared inside the foyer of the Hollow Bastion castle, the summons out of site. She glanced around, seeing various heartless roaming around, paying no attention to her at all. Perfect. A sudden cold feeling washed over her, warning her to hurry. Something was wrong…

She let her heart guide her through the vast castle, feeling scared that she might run into Malificent. She started running faster.

She found the prison, feeling he was close and in pain. She passed each cell until she found him, lying face up with a large gash bleeding from his neck. She gasped, seeing he was still breathing.

Slyph appeared and flew into the cell, landing next to him. She leaned to the side to see his face. His eyes were unfocused, twitching. She stood up and placed her hand on his wound, making it fade away. Kinno's tail twitched anxiously as she watched the pixie heal the cut. The pixie moved away, and Kinno slashed at the bars. They clanged to the floor in broken pieces, and Kinno jumped into the cell, crouching over Arick.

"Kinno?" he said groggily, reaching out his hand. Kinno gently clasped it in her talon, and pulled him to his feet. She watched him stumble, and realized he needed help to steady himself.

"We need to go now," Slyph said in alarm. "She may have sensed my magic already."

Arick shook his head. "No," he told her, swaying. "I have to stay here. You shouldn't have come in the first place…"

"I won't leave you in this damn prison alone," Kinno replied with conviction. Slyph disappeared from sight as Kinno's tail moved to wrap itself around Arick's arm to help keep him balanced.

"Please, I don't want to see you hurt," he begged her. "She could do worse to you…"

"Lets see her try," Kinno said coldly, the claws on her talons suddenly turning black to match her anger.

Arick stared into her eyes, feeling his heart beat faster. Why did she care for him so much? He felt her tail squeeze around his arm, helping him steady his body, as he had no balance himself. She started walking him out of the cell, making sure to keep a tight hold.


	19. Heart Poisoning

Hours later after wandering and making their way, they found the door to the lab where Arick knew Kairi and others were imprisoned.

"Kinno," he said quietly, glancing over at her with tired eyes.

"What is it?" she asked, curious as to why they had suddenly stopped.

"The reason I'm here…the reason I can't leave..." he spoke in short breaths, telling Kinno he was still disoriented, and she would have to fight alone if the need arose. "The only reason Malificent was able to force me to return…is because she's holding Kairi as her prisoner."

The words hit Kinno like lightning. She should of guessed before, she should of known Arick wouldn't of betrayed them on his own. The only other time they had thought of Kairi, they believed she was wandering the worlds, searching for them.

"Theirs something else," Arick continued. "She has no heart…but she's still a human."

Kinno nodded. Everything now seemed to link into place. Kairi needed rescuing. Kinno laid him down against the wall, hoping he would rest. Her tail moved softly against his cheek lovingly. She sighed, smiling before she walked through the door and into the laboratory.

Her eyes adjusted to the dim light as she absorbed the surrounding room. She was in the middle of two rows of glass prisons, each with a young and pretty female trapped inside with their legs frozen by some sort of crystal rock.

She found Kairi and Jasmine next to each other; both of them were unconscious and slumped inside.

"Kairi? Kairi, wake up!" she called as she banged on the glass.

"She won't wake to your pitiful voice," a cold voice said mockingly. Kinno turned to see Malificent standing on an upper platform above her. Unafraid with anger fueling her courage, Kinno stepped out into the open, glaring up at the sorceress. Malficent only stood their for a moment, trying to recognize the small dragonish figure below her. Kinno's silver hair flashed in the torchlight, and Malificent realized it was the boy Riku's twin sister.

"You!" she hissed.

Kinno smirked, stepping forward. "Yes, me," she said, spreading her wings as her feet walked across the floor. "And now you will pay for the pain you have caused us all!"

With her last word, she launched herself into the air towards the sorceress, dodging bolts of magic that lanced towards her. Instinct and a building rage was making Kinno unstoppable, all the blackmail and separation Malificent had created kept flashing through her mind, adding to her anger.

SLAM! Kinno crashed hard against the sorceress, throwing the witch on her back with claw wounds on her shoulders. Kinno rolled off of her, flipping through the air and landing a few feet away. Malificent was on her feet, furious. She aimed her scepter at Kinno, and a green flash of light blasted out from the crystal on top. Kinno flapped her wings, dodging the blast and flew straight at Malificent again. She flexed her talon, and struck out.

Her claws pierced through the center of Malificents chest. Kinno stopped her flight, landing her feet on the floor. She could feel her claws clasping around a dark and shriveled heart.

"A heart for a heart," Kinno growled before tightening her talon. The muffled sound of shattering glass accompanied Malificents gasp. Kinno felt pain in her hand, and withdrew her talon, allowing Malificent to fall to the floor. Kinno glanced at her palm, seeing a small black jagged shard embedded into her bleeding scales.

"Dammit," she muttered, taking out the piece and threw it to the floor. She jumped off the platform, spreading her wings and gently gliding down. As her feet touched the floor, she suddenly staggered her eyes closing half way as a wave of exhaustion flowed over her mind.

"What the hell?" she murmured. Her body felt sluggish and hot as if she was sick, but their was a constricting pressure on her chest where her heart would be. She gasped in pain, falling to her knees as her vision began to blur. She thought of the black shard she had thrown to the side…was it poison? She started to cough, and was shocked when a loud roar exploded behind her.

/Mistress! She turned into a dragon/ Slyph cried out. Kinno's eyes widened as she stumbled to turn around. A leering black dragon with glowing yellow eyes was roaring on the platform above.

Kinno was shot with fear. Not for herself, but for Arick. The dragon would tear him to pieces if Kinno couldn't stop her.

Trying to push away her illness, she jumped into the air, without another thought. Flames chased after her, forcing her fly in a circle around the dragon to avoid it. But the pain in her chest would not be ignored, and it increased with every passing second. Kinno dived towards the dragon's head as it paused to take another breath, and slashed out its left eye.

The dragon roared as Kinno flew vertically up towards the low ceiling. She felt suddenly light headed as the vice on her chest became crushing. She couldn't think, and her wings stopped flapping.

The dragon swung with one of its own gigantic claws, and Kinno cried out as she crashed into the wall. She felt her shoulder bone crack and break as she slid fell back to the ground. She tried to stand with her head still spinning, and her only thought was about Arick. She had to protect him for as long as she could. She struggled to her feet, her breathing becoming shallow and painful.

An idea came to her. "Car," she said, thinking of the summons inside her. "Can you keep her in a barrier?" She watched as the dragon whipped its head about in pain with a red pulpy eye.

/I can, but for how long/ Carbuncle whistled.

/As you get sicker, so do we, Slyph explained. /Barriers are his natural ability, but he can't maintain it if he's sick and weak/

"Do it…for as long as you can…" Kinno replied breathlessly. "I can't fight anymore…" She collapsed on her side, lousing her consciousness to the illness that was consuming her. Carbuncle's piercing whistle echoed across the room, and a light green magical barrier surrounded itself around the dragon, trapping it in the second half of the lab.

Outside the corridor, Arick gasped, clutching his heart as he felt Kinno's pain. She was in their, fighting and he was useless. Arick tried to stand, but his legs would not support him. He collapsed, falling on his chest and breathing as heavily as Kinno. No…she needed help….His vision blurred into blackness.

Kinno and Carbuncle were fighting a lousing battle. Kinno's fever rose rapidly, a combination of heat and the poison in her body was slowly shutting down her organs. Carbuncle was weakening, and so was his shield. The dragon had been pounding at its prison, and one final blow shattered the barrier. Their was a roar of triumph.

"Shiva! Phoenix! Destroy her!"

Three figures appeared out of nowhere. One was Terrra, who stood protectively over her fallen daughter. The other two were her faithful summons. Shiva, who was a blue skinned woman in skimpy clothing and an elaborate head dress was an ice Goddess. The other was a giant bird with beautiful plumage of red and crimson feathers.

Shiva and Phoenix blasted the dragon with both fire and ice, combining the elements in a spiraling vortex that ripped through it's scales and incinerated its body entirely until their was nothing left except the wreckage of the laboratory.

Terra knelt next to the unconscious Kinno. "Valiant and loyal…just like your brother," she murmered. Her hand passed over Kinno's shoulder, making the blood disappear and healed the bone. It continued down to her chest and over Kinno's heart. Terra's senses were suddenly hit with the distress of Kinno's body. Terra tried to heal her, but nothing changed.

"Her hand," Shiva's misty voice said. Terra looked at Kinno's right talon, seeing red and black blood seeping from the cut. Terra suddenly recognized the symptoms.

"Heart poisoning," Terra whispered with shock.

/Heart poisoning/ the phoenix trilled with its musical voice.

"A poison that attacks and constricts the heart, causing distress to the body," Terra explained. "It kills slowly and painfully. I can't heal it with my power."

"Then who can?" Shiva asked.

"Only one person that I know of," Terra answered, thinking of a young girl. "Phoenix, go grab the boy," she asked.

The bird flew out of the room, skillfully and gently picking up the unconscious Arick with his talons, and carried him back to Terra. He layed the boy next to her.

"Thank you Phoenix," Terra said. The bird trilled in response before both of the summons disappeared. She closed her eyes, and readied to teleport them all.


	20. Rinoa, the healer

They all suddenly reappeared in front of a large stone house built on the cliffs of the beach. Terra fell to her knees, each child laying stomach down at her sides. Her energy was zapped from inter world travel. Glancing up at the gate she saw a young woman dressed in blue, running out to meet her.

"Terra!" the woman exclaimed, crouching down to help her up, her long black hair flowing in the strong breeze. "Are you okay?" she asked, aiding Terra to stand.

"I'm fine," Terra replied, nodding. "It's my child I'm worried about."

The woman looked down at the small dragonish form of Kinno. "What's wrong with her?" she asked, slightly alarmed at her heartless like appearance.

"Heart poisoning," Terra replied, seeing the look on her face. "She's harmless," she added. The woman's eyes widened, realizing the desperation of the situation. Terra nodded again. "Don't worry about me, Rinoa. Take her now, I'll follow."

Rinoa nodded, and scooped Kinno into her arms, and hurrying the young girl inside. Exhausted, Terra looked down at Arick, feeling weak and unable to carry him. Phoenix suddenly appeared next to the boy.

/I'll take him/ the bird volunteered with its musical trill.

"Thank you," Terra said gratefully. With the same skill and gentleness, the giant red bird gathered Arick in his talons, and carries him to the house, shrinking his own size to fit inside. Terra followed closely behind.

The door entered into the living room, with hallways going in four different directions. The main room was filled with young children playing, talking. Some looked up and gazed at the magnificent bird carrying a young boy twice it's size with ease. Others continued playing, having seen the bird before, not amazed at its plumage. Terra turned immediately to the hall leading to the left side of the building. She passed by a number of doors before coming to the end of the hall. She stepped through the open frame and into a room appropiatley named, the sick room.

The walls were painted white, with one counter and a row of cupboards filled with different medicines. In the center of the room was four beds, and laying still on one, was Kinno. Rinoa stood over her with a couple more young children surrounding her, watching as ghost like angel wings spread out from Rinoa's back. Her eyes were closed and her hands were placed one on top of the other at Kinno's chest. Something was gathering beneath her palms. Terra watched for several minutes before Rinoa slowly pulled her hands away from Kinno's chest, a stream of black mist following into her hands. Rinoa was drawing out the poison directly from Kinno's body, where it formed between her arms and hardened into a ball. Rinoa spread her arms to their furthest length as if she was holding the poison with a string.

She snapped her eyes open and a blast of white light came between her hands, incinerating the mass of poison to nothing. Rinoa's hands relaxed between her sides as she let out a long exhale.

"Serena, get me a potion," she asked. A small girl with a long braided pony tail nodded, and rushed over to a cupboard, opening it and grabbing a small glass ball container filled with a thick blue liquid.

"Thank you," Rinoa said as she took it from the young girl's hand. She uncorked the top, and Lifted Kinno's head a little, slowly pouring it over Kinno's lip, letting her mouth sense the liquid. The young girl responded, opening her mouth to allow more. Rinoa slowly poured the rest of the bottle, allowing Kinno to swallow each before she finished.

"Allright children," Rinoa said, placing the empty glass on a nightstand. "Go and play. You must let her have rest."

The younglings that had gathered nodded obediently, and walked in a group quietly out the door with the exception of the girl named Serene. Rinoa sighed heavily as the last of them as the last of them disappeared behind the door. She looked over at the bird that was on the ground next to Arick.

"You can put him on their," Rinoa told Terra, pointing at the bed next to Kinno. Terra looked down at Phoenix, and nodded. The bird bowed, flapping it's wings and picked Arick up into the air once again, and placed him on the thick mattress.

"Please tell me their's nothing wrong with him," she said as she reached into another cupboard and pulled out a long slender green bottle. She took a long swig and handed it over to Terra. "Want some?" she asked.

"What is it?" Terra replied, staring at the label.

"Energy potion for stamina," Rinoa answered, "I need it for all these kids when Squall isn't here."

Terra nodded, and took few swigs from the bottle. It was sweet and bitter tasting liquid that seemed to warm her throat. "He's been real helpful," she said assuringly. "I'm sure he'll return home soon."

"I can only hope," Rinoa replied, sighing. She looked up at Arick and Kinno, noticing their breathing was in sync with one another. "So, anything he needs help with?" She asked.

"His heart is connected to hers," Terra answered, glancing back at her daughter.

"How did that happen?" Rinoa asked, taking another sip from the potion. Terra explained the story in a little then ten minutes.

"So, whatever happens to her, happens to him as well? And vice verca?" Rinoa asked, clearing up a question.

Terra nodded, looking back at the pair.

"Are they in love?" Rinoa asked with a slight smile.

Terra shook her head. "I can't answer that," she replied honestly. In her mind though, she thoroughly believed it to be true. The signs were every where… "I must leave before she wakes."

"Goodbye Terra," Rinoa said, setting the bottle down on a table and hugging her old friend. "Tell Squall to come home…"

Terra returned the embrace, and nodded at the request. She stepped back, and disappeared once more.


	21. Flashback

A younger Arick with violet red hair stood in the middle of a wide open courtroom with his wrists wrapped in shackles, the chains drifting down to the floor where they were nailed into the stone. Behind him were the few allowed to attend the court hearing, taking an oath of silence, behind them a line of guards standing at the tall wooden doors that lead into the outside world.

Surrounding him were another three guards, each holding a perfect sphere of a clear stone towards his body. In front of everything was a long table where the different leaders of all twelve tribes sat in line with a different colored robes to represent their people. Most of them were probably against him already. Arick watched as the final judge, the royal peacekeeper herself, entered the court through another side door, and took her seat in the center of all the leaders. She wore a silver gown with a symbol of peace embroided on the front, showing her position and wealth. She had heavy blonde hair, and stood taller then anyone in the room, giving her even more presence of power and control.

Sorting out her papers, she looked up at Arick, and spoke the opening words of the trial.

"Arick of Valence, you are here by accused of the kidnapping of Kairi Valence with conspiracy to seize the throne. Three guards hold Cultra stones around you to restrain your power over the elements, and the shackles are pressure sensitive, allowing steel blades to slip out and injure you lest you try to escape. Do you understand what you are being accused of?"

Arick nodded.

"Do you understand the consequences should you try to run?"

Another nod.

"Then let us begin," she declared. "Bastion, you may start."

One stood up from the crowd with a wide grin across his face that quickly disappeared as he approached the court table. He was completely bald with the only hair he had curled into a goatee on his chin. His short height gave him the impression of a hunchback and a limp could be seen in his walk. Bastion was both the queens royal advisor and also the man in charge of investigations, bringing with him an attitude that all others were below him, unfortunately, who was about to question him.

Arick had distrusted him for years, knowing that the man vied desperately to rule all. Though he had no hard evidence, Arick was sure it was this man who was behind the kidnapping of his sister.

"Thank you honorable peacekeeper," Bastion said, bowing to her and the other judges. He turned to face Arick, who only glared at him.

"Arick, we have compiled a theory on your motive behind the kidnapping of your sister," Bastion began.

"I've heard it," Arick growled. He had heard it over and over again ever since Kairi had gone missing.

"Then you know that you are believed to be guilty of conspiracy to overtake the throne."

"Their's a giant hole in your theory," Arick replied. "I did not kidnap my sister."

"You possess no evidence to suggest otherwise," Bastion pointed out, grinning at the obvious advantage he held over the prince.

"I have my own theories," Arick answered, his eyes narrowing as he felt his anger rise. His interrogator laughed.

"Well, lets here them then," Bastion said aloud as if it was already a joke. "Seeing that it's your only defense…"

"I think you know exactly what I think," Arick retorted. "If I'm out of the line, Madam Senna will take the throne after my mother passes," He gestured towards the woman sitting in the center of the table. "She's diagnosed with a terminal disease, and will only last a few months before another ruler is required. And who is next in line according to our laws?" Their was a small pause.

"The Advisor," one of the tribe leaders said with a deep voice, breaking the silence. A gasp rippled through the crowd of specatators. Bastion realized Arick had him figured out completely.

"I'm not the one on trial," he said, changing the subject with a nervous laugh. "Were here to find out if _you_ are guilty of conspiracy and kidnapping."

"I told you I DIDN'T DO IT!" Arick yelled fiercely.

Bastion stroked his goatee, nodding his head in thought. He turned back to the table of judges. "May I have a moment with the defendant?" he asked. Madam Senna nodded. Bastion approached Arick and whispered into the boy's ear. This was a court right of the interrogators to negotiate with one on trial to plead guilty. Usually it involved either a threat or a promise of a more lenient punishment.

After a moment of listening, Arick's eyes suddenly became wide and angry. Bastion quickly stepped back.

"Do you think I'm afraid of you?" He asked, turning towards Bastion and stepping forward. The chains tightened, and suddenly Arick was pulling to break the chains. The pressure system sensed his attempts, and his forearms were suddenly in a world of pain of hundreds of blades slipped out from the metal and cut across the skin. Blood dripped down from the metal shackles and onto the floor like small water falls.

A few leaders including the peace keeper stood up in shock at his actions as he continued to pull hard on his chains, squeezing out more blood from his arms that splattered to the stone floor.

"Arick, please calm yourself!" the peace keeper cried desperately. Arick continued to pull, hissing as the blades dug themselves deeper into his arms. The chain holding his right arm suddenly snapped, whipping out with deadly force. Three guards fell as their legs were cut clean away, and the power of the cultra stones receded. In fury, Arick's body became surrounded in flames, melting the chains from his shackles.

Bastion backed away, stumbling in fear of the flaming demon in front of him. A few of the leaders fled from their chairs. The peace keeper remained in her spot, yelling useless words to try and calm him down.

Arick stepped into a fight stance, and lanced his hand forward with an open palm. A thick blast of fire ripped through and incinerated Bastion into ashes. He lowered his hands and his power, causing the flames to disappear. Slowly he turned to face the leaders of the tribes. "I'll find her," he growled before leaping out a glass window and taking off.


	22. Rinoa's Request

Arick woke slowly, feeling his body weighted by gravity into sheets and a mattress rather then the cold stone floor of Malificent's castle. He opened his eyes to stare at a clear white ceiling overhead, and thoughts of Kinno suddenly rushed through his mind. He sat straight up, looking around at the strange room before he saw Kinno's back facing him on the bed next to his. He let out a sigh of relief, smiling as her tail moved and twitched with contented sleep.

He lifted the sheets away from him, and let his feet touch the cold tiled floor. He stepped closer to Kinno, seeing her wings had folded slightly to prevent themselves from being crushed. Her chest rose and fell with steady breathing, and there seemed to be no wounds upon her at all. He climbed slowly onto her bed, scanning the curves of her body. A small glint from her neck caught his eye. Taking a closer look he saw a small group of silver scales seemed to be off color then the others, like a scab upon skin.

Kinno let out a loud yawn and stretched out her arms before rubbing her eyes. Arick smiled, all thoughts of the strange mark leaving his mind as she sat up.

"Morning sleepy," he greeted her. "Feeling all right?"

Kinno nodded. "Better," she answered, and took a glance at the surrounding room. "Where are we?" she asked, turning her head back to Arick.

"No idea," Arick answered, shaking his head. "But we should find out," he added, pointing his thumb at the door to the far left. Kinno nodded and slipped off her bed. Arick dropped to the floor as well, and felt something unexpectedly wrap around his arm. Looking down, he saw Kinno's silvery tail was circled three times around it. He looked to Kinno, giving her an odd look of confusion.

"Last time you couldn't walk on your own," she explained, her cheeks blushing brightly. "I just wanted to make sure…"

Arick couldn't help but laugh as the tail released his arm. "Come on," he said, taking her hand and leading her out the door.

Immediately they heard the screams and giggles of playing children as the door opened up to a long hallway. They followed its path to a large open play room where about a dozen young children ranging from five to twelve were playing with balls, board games on the floor, some gathered around a screen with cartoons flashing across. In the midst of it all, one woman stood out amongst them all. Her bright blue dress and long black hair seemed familiar to Arick.

The woman stood up from tending to young one as he and Kinno entered, smiling at both of them. Without a word, she motioned them to follow her down another hallway. After navigating around hundreds of tiny toys, the two children walked through an open door into the master bedroom of the house where Rinoa sat on a large king sized bed with elaborate red sheets and pillows.

"Are you both feeling okay?" the woman asked, her voice carrying a both kind and subtle voice that Arick felt he could trust.

"Were fine," he answered. "Who are you?"

"I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself," she said. "My name is Rinoa Lionheart." She bowed her head slightly in greeting. "Would like to take a seat?" she asked, offering a space on her bed.

"Thanks," Arick said, and they both climbed up and took comfortable seats. "I'm Arick," he said, introducing himself, pointing at his chest. "And this is Kinno."

"Where are we?" Kinno asked.

"You're in the Aluclaud Plains," Rinoa answered. "A good forty miles from Balamb Garden."

That made no sense, Arick thought. It was no help either. Unless Riku and the others were on the same world (which he already doubted), they were no closer to finding them then they were back at Malificent's castle.

"Where'd you find us?" Arick asked, the next question popping in his mind.

"Someone left you on my doorstep," Rinoa said. "Kinno was injured internally, and you were just unconscious. I healed her the best I could and left you two to rest in the hospital wing."

Who could've brought them here, Arick wondered. That didn't matter. First thing first.

"Do you know anyone who could help us find our friends?" he asked his final question.

Rinoa smiled. "I do actually," she answered. A flood of relief came over Arick. At last, someone that could help. Rinoa stood up from her bed and walked casually to a large dresser where a gigantic mirror spread in front of the wall. All around the edge of the mirror were hundreds of pictures, each a portrait of a different child. She took four of them out there place, and sat back down, spreading the pictures across the blanket. "But I have a favor to ask first," she said. "The man that can help you is a dear friend of mine, and is the Headmaster at Garden in Balamb."

"What's the favor?" Arick asked, staring at the pictures.

"Every year when one of our kids turns twelve, we send them to garden to train for the SeeD program"

"Those are all your kids?" Kinno asked amazed, her jaw almost dropping.

"No, no," Rinoa said laughing. "I'm sorry. This is an orphanage for children whose parents were killed during the sorceress war, and any other's that might louse there parents. Anyway, as I was saying, I need you to both escort them to the garden."

"Is it dangerous?" Arick asked.

"Not entirely," Rinoa replied. "But there are creatures out there that would harm the children if they were left unprotected."

Arick nodded in understanding. "We'll do it," he said.


	23. To Balamb

The next morning, Arick, Kinno, Rinoa and the four children gathered outside the orphanage. Kinno had returned to her normal form after resting the night, and was glad she no longer had a tail.

There were two girls and two boys, and all of them were teary eyed as they said there goodbyes to the matron that had been taken care of them for past years of there life. Rinoa hugged each in turn, she herself crying slightly, but taking a brave face in front of her children.

"Here," Rinoa said, handing Arick a folded map. "This'll guide you to the garden," she said.

"You're taking us to Balamb?" One of the boys asked Arick after Rinoa disappeared back inside the orphanage.

"Yup," Arick said, thinking the answer was obvious. He opened up the map, and found a picture of a large continent with white marks that showed him the way. A small orange blip blinked on the paper, showing his current location on the continent. Rinoa had said Balamb Garden was forty miles from the orphanage. They had to start if they were going to make it before complete nightfall. "Come on," he said, placing the map inside a pocket of his jacket after memorizing the directions.

"Why do you two dress so funny?" Another one of the children asked, looking up at him.

Arick looked down at the young one who kept asking the questions, blinking. He was small skinny, his body looking a little fragile. Probably the youngest one of the group, Arick guessed. He had light brown hair, wearing a red shirt with a pair of old brown pants with knees stained green from so many falls in the grass.

"Why do you dress so funny?" Arick asked back, smiling a little.

The boy made a face. "I don't dress funny!" he said indignantly. Arick laughed and shook his head.

"Come on," he said again, pushing the youngest towards the others as they headed away from the orphanage. Arick and Kinno turned around once to give a farewell wave to Rinoa. The wave was returned along with a smile before she went back inside.

They set out across the Aluclaud plains of wide grass fields and meadows. The children mostly ran and played as Kinno and Arick kept a good pace, talking mostly of Arick's dream after he explained it in careful detail.

The creatures that threatened the children's lives seemed non existent for most of the journey. Arick hadn't seen a single live animal in there hours of travel. That quickly changed soon after they had taken there second break.

They had all sat and rested for half an hour on top of a fallen log, and continued on as the sun started to set in the sky. Arick carried the smallest one on his back, the one that had asked the questions before, and as Arick guessed, he was the weakest and couldn't walk nearly as far as the others. The children had calmed from walking such a long distance, and now stayed mostly by there sides. Kinno had taken the hand of the other girl, talking with her occasionally.

A loud hum of buzzing hit Arick's ears. What was that? He thought. His question was soon answered as one of the children screamed, pointing to the air above his head. Arick glanced up to find four large bright blue bugs descending towards him with sharp gnashing pinchers extending from beneath there light yellow eyes.

"WHOA!" Arick yelled in surprise and dashed forward with the little boy still clinging to his back. The other young ones screamed in fear, and gathered behind Kinno for protection. Arick dropped the young lad that was hanging on his back to the ground and made sure he was safely behind Kinno, who had drawn her sword after organizing the children into a tight circle.

Arick threw a fireball at the closest one, and made it hiss as it passed through one of its legs. Arick threw more, almost as if in a dance as he launched his attacks at the group of attacking insects. Two of them fell from the sky in flaming corpses as the others made there way towards the group of crying children.

Kinno pulled back her sword, and let out a wide swing, sending a blast of her mental energy through the sword, and the two remaining insects fell in two halves to the ground, disintegrating as the others do.

Arick walks over to Kinno, glancing at the sky to make sure there's no more. Some of the children were crying, others trying to comfort those who were crying, the rest were staring in awe at there protectors.

"Is everyone all right?" Arick asks as he comes upon the group, picking up the youngest one again to carry him on his back. All the children nodded, and they continued, all of them sticking close to Kinno.

Soon they came across the small town of balamb that had been marked on the map Arick carried. It was rather small town, a paved road that lead you to the three parts of town. A large hotel overlooked a small dock on the sea, some residential homes and a couple shops.

The children were obviously tired. The one that had been piggy back riding on Arick had already fallen asleep, and the ones that were still walking were fighting to keep there eyes open.

Even though he knew the garden wasn't that far away, it was getting dark, and Arick knew stronger monsters often came out after the sun traveled below the horizon. The children were tired, Kinno looked tired, though he knew she would shake her head if he asked her about it.

"Here," Arick said as he lowered the young boy from his back as gently as he could, handing him into Kinno's arms. The child stirred slightly to the movement, but was too exhausted to wake up.

"What're you doing?" Kinno asked as she took hold of the boy.

"Gonna get us a free room" He said before turning around and walking off towards the hotel with Kinno and the other children watching until he disappeared behind the door.

Kinno gathered the children into a tight group around her as she moved them to a place where they could all sit down and rest for the moment until Arick would come back.

None of the young children were in the mood to talk. Some of them were slumping against one another, breathing softly as there bodies felt sleepy.

Kinno began to worry a little when more then ten minutes passed by. She became even more worried when she heard yelling and saw a young blonde teenager in blue shorts and a black vest go running past her and into the hotel. She was about to set down the young boy in her arms down next to one of the other children when Arick came out of the hotel, talking with the young teenager she had seen earlier.

Arick looked over at kinno and gave her a smile, gesturing with his hand for her to come over to him. A little confused, Kinno woke the children that were sleeping, and all slowly stood up, a chorus of yawns following.

"What happened?" Kinno asked as soon as she knew her voice would be heard by Arick.

Arick smiled again, placing a hand on the blonde boy's shoulder. "Kinno, this is Zell. He's gonna give us all a ride to Balamb Garden," he told her. The one named Zell slicked his hair back, extending a hand to shake hers.

"Nice to meet ya!" he said with a high pitch voice that seemed to squeak slightly. Kinno noticed a long tribal tattoo running down his left cheek.

Kinno frowned and gestured to the boy in her arms, making zell realize his stupidity, and twinge as he lowered his hand. "Sorry," he apologized nervously, blushing a little and scratching the back of his head.

Kinno chuckled in her mind and nodded. "So you can take us all to Garden?" she asked, changing the subject so Zell wouldn't feel so uncomfortable.

The teenager nodded. "Uh huh! Headmaster Cid sent me to take all of you guys back to Garden." Zell explained. "I have a car right outside," he said, jabbing his thumb to point behind him.


	24. Yet another Journey

The children had all cheered when they found out there was no more walking to do, and that there new home was only minutes away inside a long, yellow vehicle. They were all asleep now, leaning against either each other or against the hard interior of the car. Two of them were snoring, and the youngest was curled up in Aricks arms, sleeping soundly.

Arick had learned what he could from Zell about Garden, soon learning that Zell was a babbler when it came to conversation. Arick didn't care much for Garden's history. He was more interested in what they taught. He paid close attention when zell explained the mercenary military force known as SeeD.

Kinno seemed listless, only staring at the sleeping children. Her thoughts were elsewhere, yearning to see her twin brother again, wondering what the others were doing.

After what seemed like half an hour, Zell pointed out the approaching Balamb Garden. It was a huge building with a tall central tower. Zell pulled up to the road and Kinno began waking the children as they pulled into the parking garage. Some of them woke without question, others wishing to remain asleep whined and struggled before they opened there eyes and realizing they were finally at the garden.

Two tall soldiers from SeeD dressed in military uniforms were standing at the doorway waiting for them, one male, the other a young female with short black hair. As the children filed out, the one on the left lead them away to the dormitories. Zell saluted her, and said his goodbyes before running off.

The woman bowed to both of them, and introduced herself. "My name is Xu. Thank you for escorting the children. Please, follow me," she said, turning and walking inside. Arick and Kinno followed her without question, staring at the enormous interior of Balamb Garden. She toured them around a little, pointing at different hallways and telling the two where they lead. One was the dormitiories. Another was huge artificial environment called the training center where monsters were placed for students to test there skills. Xu lead them to an elevator, a beep sounding as the doors opened

"The purpose of this school is to train the mercenary force known as SeeD." Xu began explaining as the elevator traveled upwards. "A special military force that's dispatched around the world."

With a woosh, the elevator took all three of them to the very top level of Garden where the doors opened up to a grand office. Sitting in a large artistic wooden chair behind a desk sat a man well into his late fifties. His hair was a grayish brown that layed in neatly combed bangs over his small bespectacled eyes. He wore a white dress shirt beneath a violet red button up vest and long dark slacks. On his desk was a steel name plate with the words "Headmaster Cid". The man glanced up through his glasses as the elevator door opened up, giving them all a kind smile as they stepped out from the elevator.

"Welcome," he said with a deep rich voice, standing up from his chair and walking forward to greet Arick and Kinno with a handshake. "I thank you very much for escorting the children here," he told them with genuine integrity. "Rinoa has told me all about you and I have already arranged transportation for you to leave for Esthar."

Wow, Arick thought. This man was really ontop of things. "When can we leave?" He asks, hoping Esthar meant some kind of way to travel to the other worlds.

"The ship will arrive here in two weeks I'm afraid," he told them, making Kinno frown. Two weeks. Anything could happen to her brother in two weeks. "In the meantime, you should take advantage of where you are. You may learn a few things while you're here," Cid suggested.

Arick thanked him, shaking his hand as they were lead back inside the elevator.

Xu showed them a room in the dormitories that had been specially reserved for both of them. Two small but very comfortable beds awaited them inside with a small bathroom. Kinno immediately headed straight for the bathtub, shutting the door behind her. Arick thanked Xu, and she bowed before leaving them.

Arick fell back with his hands behind his head onto the first bed, staring up at the ceiling while Kinno enjoyed a soothing bath. They were gonna be stuck for two weeks inside a school. Arick couldn't remember if he ever had school. He knew he had been taught an education, but by whom he could not recall.

After Kinno had finished, she came back into the room, smelling like shampoo and aromatic soap. Arick was still staring up at the ceiling in thought.

She took a seat on the bed beside his, staring at Arick curiously. "What's on your mind?" she asked after a few moments.

"What I'm gonna do to pass the time here," Arick answered with a tired sigh.

"And what's that gonna be?" Kinno asked, trying to keep the small conversation going.

"Probably drop in on a few combat classes if they let me," Arick answered again. He turned on his side, looking over at Kinno. "There's a library here. Maybe it has something interesting for you about magic," he suggested.

Kinno nodded a little. "I'll take a look," she said.

Arick took a long yawn, closing his eyes and turning to his back. "I'm gonna hit the hay," he told kinno tiredly. "you should too."

Kinno smiled a little to the suggestion, Knowing her body was physically exhausted from the long walk. "night…" she said quietly before laying her head down on the thick pillow. She stared at the blue parts of his hair at the back of his head, wishing he had slept with his face towards her. She wasn't sure, but she was beginning to believe she had feelings for Arick, stemming from all the time they had recently spent with each other.

Over the next two week, Arick did as he said he would, Xu arranging for him to attend a few combat classes while Kinno spent most of her time either in the library or inside the training center to increase her skill with a sword. Arick often joined her when he wasn't learning about how to junction magic to his wrist blades, or different ways to use his magic spells against an enemy. And after all there practice, there was definitely a huge improvement in both Kinno's and Arick's fighting ability. Xu even suggested that they should join SeeD.

At the end of there two week stay, Xu came in and woke both of them up early in the morning. Arick woke with an irritated moan, shaking his head and blinking groggily at the young woman.

"Your ship has arrived to take you to Esthar," she explained, smiling a little. Kinno shook herself awake and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. The green glowing digital numbers read five twenty five in the morning. She yawned as she tossed off her bed covers, and followed Arick out with Xu, hugging to Arick's arm.

Xu took them to the parking garage and drove them o the coast line in the same vehicle zell had driven. Standing on the soft sand with the sun barely rising behind him was a young man in a compltely white uniform standing in a straight posture that suggested he was one of the SeeD members that Arick had learned of in his two weeks at Balamb Garden.

"This is where I must leave you," Xu told both of them, bowing. "I hope you fare well on your journey."

Arick hugged her, as did kinno. "Thank you," he said. They waved her off as she drove away, and the young man took them inside a small life boat that was floating in the water, and they were taken to there main transportation.

The ship stood like a hill amongst land in the water. It was a long narrow boat, with giant white sails that spread out in a semi circle. Another young man in a white uniform pulled them up from the water and guided them to a small room in the lower part of the stern.

Arick tested the bed, finding it hard and a lot less comfortable then the ones they stayed in at the Garden dormitories. He sighed, thinking that he couldn't complain. They were taking him and Kinno somewhere that would hopefully be able to get them back out into space to start looking for Riku and the others.

During the night, Arick suddenly woke up from an odd dream that involved him and Kinno playing on a set of green monkey bars. He shook it out of his head and glanced at the bed next to him, finding it empty of its sleeper. Arick blinked a few times and slowly pushed himself to stand on the floor and walked out into the upper deck of the ship.

As he thought, he found Kinno leaning against he railing, staring up at the dark sky where the millions of stars glowed brightly. She glanced back when she heard his footsteps behind her, a calm expression masking a sadness in her eyes that Arick could see easily.

"What's wrong?" He asked her as he walked to her side, resting his arms on the railing as she gazed back up at the stars.

"I told you I hate small places" she says with the quietly, blinking but keeping her stares at the sky.

"that's not the only thing," Arick says, lifting his right arm and draping it over her shoulders in a gentle and caring gesture.

Kinno sighs and tilts her head down so her eyes are looking at the gentle waves that slap against the boats haul. "I miss him…" she admits, her voice quivering in her sadness. "I want to see him again…"

Arick nodded and pulled her into a full embrace, wrapping his arms around her. Kinno felt tears well up in her eyes as she buried her head into his chest. "I know you miss him…" he tells her. "That's why were on this ship…to go and find them again."

Kinno nodded a little as she started sniffling, breaking down and beginning to cry. Arick felt her tears soak into her shirt, and just held her, gently massaging her back and rocking her a little in attempts to calm her. After a few minutes, kinno took a deep breath, and looked up at Arick, wiping her tears from her eyes.

"Feel better?" he asked her, moving a sweaty strand of hair from her forhead.

Kinno nodded, leaning her head against his chest again. "I'm tired…" she told him. Arick chuckled a little and let her go.

"I'll be right back," he said, turning and running back inside the ship. Minutes later he returned with the sheets, quilts, and pillows from there beds in the sleeping quarters, and set them up on the wooden deck of the ship.

"We'll sleep here," he said, patting the pillow.

Kinno smiled and nodded, laying down on the sheet and pulling up the quilt over her as Arick did the same. She layed on her side to face him, staring deep into his blue eyes, seeing the reflection of the moon flash across his iris. Was she falling for him? She asked her self.

Arick returned her stare, knowing he had feelings for her, but being as shy as he was, he held back. "night," he said simply, the only thing he could think of to say.

"Night…" Kinno said back, closing her eyes and soon fell to sleep.

As Arick lost his conciousness soon after Kinno, Terra appeared over them, her feet making no sound as they touched the planks of the ship. She kneeled down carefully, smiling down on her daughter. She wished so much she could reveal herself to Kinno, but knew she couldn't for the girls own safety. Her face turned to determination as she gently moved Kinno's silver hair aside from her neck.

She sighed as her fears were realized, seeing the dark bruise like mark Arick had seen before. Another part of the prophecy fulfilled, Terra thought to herself. She glanced over at Arick, who snored a little in his sleep. She knew he would soon receive the same mark.

A quiet yawn made her snap her head to glance over her shoulder. She sighed with relief as the familiar face of a young woman stood out into the moonlight, lightly walking without shoes towards her. She had brown short hair that waved to either side of her face. She wore a turquoise vest and an off-white skirt with a light green shawl resting between her arms.

"Terra," the woman spoke, her voice soft and groggy of one who had just woke from sleep. "Your powers still trip my senses."

"Hello Ellone," Terra said, remembering the highly sensitive powers the young woman possessed.

"Why are you here?" Ellone asked, brushing her hair with her fingers. Terra gazed back to Kinno with sadness in her eyes, gazing again at the mark that darkened her daughter's neck.

"She is receiving the cells of her father from the life stream of my planet. It is a painful and possibly deadly affliction." Terra explained with a hint of hatred in her tone when she spoke of the girls father.

"She is his daughter," Ellone said after yawning again. "It was to be expected."

Terra nodded, closing her eyes. "I wish it wasn't..." she whispered regretfully.

"We all wish for better things for our children," Ellone told her. "But if the prophecy continues to be correct, I may have a part in this to help your child."

Terra sighed, looking once again at the young sorceress. "I trust in you to do what is needed."

Ellone nodded. "I will do what is asked."


	25. Crisis

Terra left long before the morning sun rays woke Arick, a warmth trickling over his face. The first thing he saw was Kinno's eyes gazing intently into his.

"Sleep well?" she asked, grinning. She gave a slight giggle as he let out a long yawn.

"What's so funny?" he asked her.

"You look weird when you sleep," she said. "Your face and your hands. Their always twitching."

"I wouldn't know," Arick replied, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He tilts his head a little, thinking of her question. "Did you sleep?"

Kinno nodded, keeping her head resting in the pillow. She looked up at him, unable to stop gazing into those deep blue eyes. She laughed to herself, wondering how this could be Kairi's older brother.

Arick gazed out over the ships rail, seeing a long green coast line not a mile away sticking out of the water. Both of them stood up fully, Kinno in front of Arick, watching the land and water pass by. Kinno slowly leaned back against Arick's chest, relaxing with a sigh. Arick hesitated a little before placing his arms around her, holding her at her stomach, unsure of Kinno's feelings towards him..

Ten minutes later, the boat pulled a hard turn, rotating itself until it was parallel with the beach that was now close in view. Arick could see someone standing next to a dark vehicle that waited for them on the beach.

"We'll be taking you to the shore soon," One of the white SeeD's informed them. A few minutes later, a lifeboat was released into the water with Arick, Kinno and a driver inside. The boat skipped across the water, making Kinno feel queasy until it hit the shore. A young woman dressed in a white Lab coat with long black hair had been the small figure they had seen before. She wore small square glasses and a light smile that fitted perfectly in her thin framed face.

As they pulled onto the coast, she bowed as Arick and Kinno stepped off and onto the beach.

"Thank you," she said to the SeeD. The man saluted her before turning his boat around to return to his ship.

"I'm Maria," she introduced herself to arick and Kinno. "I'll be taking you to the lunar launch station."

"Launch station?" Arick asked, confused. "We were told we're going to Esthar."

"Yes. The launch center is part of Esthar," she explained, though sounding a little rushed. She opened the driver door of a large black hummer like vehicle for Kinno and Arick to climb into the two front passenger seats before she drove them off.

Nothing was said for a while on the bumpy travel as their ride jumped and shook until Maria broke the awkward silence.

"The details of your launch and destination are under top-secret information. There are many that still do not know of the other existing worlds, and that's how it needs to stay."

"We understand," Arick replied, though he didn't completely. He had always thought it was best for people to share there knowledge with others.

They came across a thin lay out of buildings that was known as the Lunar Launch station. There was a control center building behind a wide launch ramp and spaces to park. Inside was a bushel of activity as many scientists in the same white lab coats as Maria's walked around, sitting at terminal, reading stats from a clipboard, or doing something else that seemed to be scientific.

Maria guided them through the mass herd of white to an elevator, though Arick noticed none of the scientists paid them any attention as they passed by, as if they didn't exist at all.

Half-way to the elevator, a high-pitched beep rung from her pocket. She pulled out a small pager like device with a glass display. She read the green text that flashed across, and frowned.

"They want us in the monitor room," she said. "I don't know why…"

She called the elevator down, and let them step in as the doors opened. She pressed a button on the inside console, and the doors closed. There was a slow hum as they ascended, and it beeped again once it stopped.

They walked out into a darkened room where multiple screens showed pictures of radar and satellite camera images. Little consoles were set up in squares, with more staff watching each one, using a mousse and typing in different commands.

On the biggest screen in the middle of the room was a large image of a giant red blob. It's red-liquid flesh was bubbling and moving strangely as more of the same material seemed to join it and make it bigger. Though they were gathering, they all seemed to be disconnected, vibrating together in the blackness of space.

"What's going on?" Maria asked in alarm, walking up to the closest console.

"Were not entirely sure," the man sitting down said, his voice slightly panicked. "Professor Piet believes there Adel's cells' are regenerating in space."

"What?!" Maria asked in utter amazement. "Is it possible…?"

"Yes," another male voice entered the conversation. He was tall and broad shouldered with short and neatly combed blonde hair. This was Piet.

"And she's gonna be after us when she is fully reformed."

Standing next to Piet were two completely different people, ones that actually didn't where lab coats. The one who had just spoken was a young man in his mid twenty's, a long brown hair pony tail hanging behind him, the top decked out in cowboy hat to compliment his jeans and a brown coat.

"She'll be looking for Squall and Rinoa too." The one next to him said. She was a short girl with brown hair and a light brown dress. A pair of nun-chaku was strapped on her back.

"Rinoa?" Kinno asked curiously, her interest in these new people now perked at the mention of the kind woman. "What does she have to do with this?"

The girl gazed over at the pair, realizing who they were. "Hi," she said suddenly, her voice more cheerfull and spunky . "I'm Selphie. This is Irvine," she said, introducing herself and her male companion.

"Mam," Irvine said, tipping his hat to Kinno as his name was mentioned.

"Unfortunately, this means, we can't send you back to your world," Piet said. "We've had two satellites explode the second they came within twenty feet of that mass, and it's in the way of your flightpath."

"Dammit," Arick muttered angrily. "Whose this Adel?"

"A powerful sorceress who ruled Esthar as a dictator long ago," Piet began to explain. "She was imprisoned by our current ruler, President Loire."

"But she escaped two years ago," Selphie interjected. "She tried to regain power by absorbing the sorceress powers of Rinoa. Squall, Zell, and Irvine all defeated her in battle."

"Whose Squall?" Kinno asked. "Why is he tied with Rinoa?"

"You would know him as Leon," Irvine answered. "And he's married to her."

"This is Leon's world?" Arick exclaimed.

Irvine nodded. "He changed his name when he left to go help the king."

Arick wondered what reasons Leon had for changing his name. It didn't matter now. This Adel person was in his way of leaving this world, and he had to find a way to get Kinno back to her brother.

"Sir!" one of the staff members called out with panic. "The cells! They're starting to bond!"

"What?!" Piet yelled out in alarm. All eyes turned to the giant main screen that was focusing on the blob of the regenerating sorceress. The tiny bits of red liquid were vibrating, changing. Watching closely, Arick could see them attach to each other, becoming more solid, and almost as if he was watching a movie in fast forward, they began forming organs, tissues and a white bone structure. Muscles clotting over the exposed insides, and then was covered with a wave of purplish skin and a pale white face.

Adel floated in the middle of space, naked with her eyes closed. Her red hair floated like tentacles around her before as she opened her blood red eyes. She grinned, staring directly into the camera of the satellite that was focusing on her. She reached out her arm into the emptiness, and all screens suddenly blanked out into static.

Not a word was heard in the monitor room as each eye stared blankly at the static screen, stunned of what had just occurred.

The silence in the monitor room was suddenly broken by a single voice.

"Sir, I still have feedback!"

Piet ran to the man who called, his screen the only one to have a glowing image of Adel. The view was further away then all the others, a rear angle view of the Sorceress. She had in her outstretched hand, a large growing black ball of gravity. She held it their for a few more seconds before her form launched forward as if she was reeling into the planet.

"That Demi spell is aimed directly at us sir," one of the staff said, her voice worried and scared.

"At her speed and rate, she'll completely demolish this entire station," another woman said from watching the radar screen.

"Start the evacuations now," Piet commanded shakily.

Everyone stood up, some removing headsets and other equipment from their uniforms, and filed towards the door. Piet picked up a large phone that connected to the entire facility's P.A system.

"Emergency level ten," he announced, and began giving basic instructions on evacuation procedure. The calm didn't last long. According to a calculation, They had eight minutes to get at least three miles from the launch center.

Soon, everyone was running in a panic. Arick held tightly onto Kinno, as the rush of people pushed against them like constant waves. All of them were running for the cars and vans in the parking lot, filling them up with as many as could fit in before the tires squealed and they took off as fast as they could.

Arick pulled Kinno through the crowd to the nearest vehicle, the same model that they had ridden over here with Maria. Kinno climbed into the passenger seat while Arick jumped into the drivers.

"Do you know how to work this thing?" Kinno asked, buckling her seat belt.

"No idea," Arick replied, trying to remember exactly what Maria had done. He turned the ignition, and pulled off the parking brake, and put his hands on the wheel. Arick heard the engine start, and put his foot onto the gas pedal.

The car gunned forward, shooting towards a solid wall. Arick managed to jerk the wheel to the right, turning sharply around. He put his foot lightly on the pedal, and drove out into the open plain.

The car accelerated as he put more weight into it. Hundreds of others were driving beside him in a tangled formation of roaring motors. He hoped they would be far enough by the time Adel landed. He looked into the mirror at the space center that slowly became smaller out of view the further they drove. Like a missle, a hurling black blur crashed into the center.

A giant mushroom cloud of dust rose into the sky. The car's hull suddenly started to rattle before it was violently flipped on it's side. It slid across the ground, carried by the force of the shockwave. Inside, they were tossed, rolled and tarnished as the vehicle continued to tumble.

When it finally stopped moving, everything was silent. The cloud of dust traveled over the wreckage like a thick blanket.

The front windshield shattered in a blast of fire. Arick climbed out, holding a shaky Kinno to his side. Both of them were bruised and cut, but no major injury afflicted their bodies.

Around them were vehicles that had suffered the same fate. Scattered and damaged, mixed with the dead bodies of there passangers, laying in odd positions, only a few scientists and staff were able to survive.

Arick looked back at the place that was supposed to send them back. As the giant dust bowl cleared away, it revealed nothing but a small crater indenting the earth. The only chance they had of leaving this world had been destroyed.

Arick in a boiling fit of anger let go of Kinno's hand and ran off towards the crater, where he would surely find Adel.

"Arick, wait!" Kinno yelled, running after him.


	26. Adel

Adel stood in the very center of all the destruction that she had caused. How much more chaos she wished to create…Smiling at her self, clothing suddenly appeared over her naked body. A long black skirt covered over her legs, a cross of metal covering her chest. A pair of black spiny wing ornaments spread out from her back.

A strong source of magic was approaching her. Could she absorb it? She wondered. She could use the extra boost in power after so many years of another term of imprisonment. She waited in silence for the bearer to come.

Arick slid down the side of the wide hole, kicking down dust and rocks as he made his way into the center where he could see the eight-foot tall figure of Adel waiting for him.

He jumped before he hit the bottom, his wrist blades flashing in the sun. He ran in front of Adel, glaring up at her as he gathered his magical energy into his stones.

"Foolish boy," Adel said with a deep, gravely voice. "You shall die here."

A mass of fire flared around his hand, and was launched forward as a ball of flames. Adel deflected it with a simple shield, holding it their for a couple seconds before reaching out towards him. Her fingers became liquid like tentacles that rushed out and wrapped themselves around his body before he could even realize they had touched him.

She threw him up high into the air above their arena, and snapped her fingers. A long jagged bolt of lighting pierced through Arick, his whole body jerking before becoming paralyzed, and he fell through the sky. Adel watched with pleasure as he fell straight down, probably to his death. She didn't hear the rapid footsteps from behind her.

Kinno jumped as high as she could, boosting her height with her mental power. She held her sword blade-down between her hands. Her feet landed squarely on Adel's bulky shoulder blades, plunging the sword deep into her spine.

The Sorceress shrieked in agony, flailing her arms as the pain spread through her body. Kinno dropped to the ground, and threw a mental line at Arick to slow his fall. She felt it catch, and she stopped his rapid decent before he crashed, inches from the ground.

Kinno was suddenly knocked in the side of her head by a heavy force that slammed her to the ground and in a daze. Another blow sent her flying across the dirt.

Adel was smashing Kinno with her arms in a mad fury, beating her constantly with her claws. Arick stood up quickly, seeing Kinno become battered repeatedly.

"Leave her alone!" he yelled, sprinting at Adel, focusing his magic to junction with his blades, fists and feet. He leapt up to Adel's eye level, and started attacking her monstrous head and chest rapidly. Explosions ingnited on her body with every punch and kick that made her stumble backwards. Arick fell back to the ground, crouching like a leopard and ready to attack again.

Kinno opened her eyes, feeling her injuries pain her body. She slowly stood up, a cut from the corner of her left eye bleeding down her cheek. Slyph suddenly appeared in the air next to her.

The small pixie placed her hand on Kinno once again, and healed her rapidly. Kinno watched as Arick jumped twice, dodging the liquid tentacles that Adel whipped out towards him. An idea flashed through her mind. Summoning her sword back into her hands, she held it out into the air, concentrating her telekinetic power on the sword.

Arick threw another blast of inferno at Adel, enshrouding her in a dome of flames. Kinno let the sword float into the air, and using her hands to guide it, sent it flying into the shadowy form within the mass of fire.

An ear splitting shriek echoed within the crater as the flames died out. A burnt and angry sorceress stood their with the sword piercing through her neck and out her throat. Arick took a deep breath, gathering up another mass of fire with what little energy he had left, and incinerated Adel completely in what was left of his power. All that was left was a pile of ashes beneath a fallen sword.

Kinno ran over to Arick as he fell to his knees in the middle of the smoldering damage and clouds of smoke and dust. Slyph's wings buzzed next to her ear as the pixie felt the same concern for Arick. His breathing was heavy and labored, he began to cough as Kinno crouched down next to him. Slyph landed on his back, placing her hand on the top of his spine, healing him as fast as she could.

Arick sighed as the wave of relief and healing came over him. He wiped away the dirt from his face as he sat back on the ground.

"Are you okay?" he asked, turning to Kinno. She nodded, smiling at his automatic concern for her, putting her hand on his shoulder. She looked over at the pile of ash, sensing something. A small blue glow appeared in the middle of the grey powder. Arick saw it as well, staring at it as the small sphere floated into the air.

"Another summon," Slyph whispered, watching it in awe. The small sparkle flew towards them, pushed by an invisible force towards them. It slowed down as it got closer until it completely stopped in front of both of them.

With a flash, it lanced itself into Arick's heart, disappearing as it passed through his flesh. An image of a large, dark blue dragon flashed through his mind as a surge of power and magic swept through his body.

"I was unaware that you had summoners blood, Elements," Slyph said, floating into the air.

"That makes two of us," Arick replied, staring at the spot where the glow had sunk into his chest. "This is a summon?" he asked.

"Yes, only not in full form," Slyph replied, frowning a little. "He is Tiamat, the dragon that was poisoned by evil. He chose you as his summoner."

Arick sighed, and flopped onto his back, staring at the sky. He was tired and completely exhausted, too much so to question Slyph further on this summon that now seemed to occupy itself in his heart. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to rest on the ground where he lay. Kinno felt the same, and layed down next to him, keeping her arm hugged around his chest to keep them close together.

The night passed over the clearing sky, allowing the moon to illuminate the sleeping children that lay still in the middle of the crater. Both slept easy, their breathing regular and deep.

Slyph appeared in the air next to Kinno, a small green glow surrounding her form allowed her to see perfectly in the dark. The pixie landed quietly on the ground, silencing her wings and gazed upon the mark that darkened the skin on Kinno's neck. Slyph had felt the disturbance within Kinno for quiet some time, but was forbidden to say a word about it.

Kinno hissed in her sleep as the attack began. Pain shot throughout her neck and back as the mark slowly began to spread. Slyph watched helplessly as her mistress struggled and writhed in agony. The pixie was the only one that kept them both deeply asleep so neither of them would know the pain that Kinno was going through.

The pain finally receded, and Kinno's body calmed. The bruise like mark had become larger on her neck, and grew downward towards her spine. Slyph closed her eyes as she linked telepathically with Kinno's mother.

"It is as you feared, Mistress. The Mark grows with the pain that it causes."

"Keep them asleep," came a response. "Return to her now."


	27. Where Are We?

Arick woke up slowly, still feeling drowsy and exhausted. Wishing that he could close his eyes again and fall asleep, He shifted his arms to push himself up and into a sitting position, feeling his head rush and making him dizzy.

He gasped suddenly, snapping forward and clutching his left forearm, his whole body feeling the shock. It felt like the skin was being ripped apart by an invisible knife that seared through his flesh. The pain confused his mind, throwing his senses awry and making the walls around him seem to warp and disappear.

He felt it in his stomach before it was coming. He fell onto his hands, and threw up all over the cement ground.

The pain had ceased with the sudden vomit, leaving him breathless and weak on his knees.He coughed twice, expelling the rest of his puke before glancing up at the wall next to him. Their was no wall next to him when he closed his eyes the first time. The black concrete bricks stared back at him in a standstill, acting as a focal point for his vision to return to normal.

He looked down the wall, trying to familiarize himself with the new surroundings, to see he was between two of them in a long dark street alley of a busy city. Small pieces of metal pipes and tubing jutted out from various places on the wall without reaching too far out from the building. Boxes, crates and more junk was scattered across the alleyway where he spotted a lot of young children sitting, stading or sleeping ontop of all the junk that had been dumped there.

He spotted Kinno laying on a pile of torn and ripped pillows beside him, and sighed in relief. Everytime he found himself somehow on a new world, he feared that she wouldn't be their at all. Once again, his fear was put to rest. He looked down at his arm where the pain had caused him to louse his mind. He was surprised to see a long purple and black rash that traveled up his arm like a skid mark darkening the skin. Something in his mind said he had seen something like this before.

"Are you allright?"

Arick looked up to see a small ragged doll dangling in front of his face. He looked up the owners arm to see a young girl no older then eight with long black hair tied into pigtails.

He nodded slightly, not sure if she was friendly or just their to try and steal anything of value.

"I'm fine," he replied, standing up.

"Are you new here?" the girl asked, looking up at him now that he stood about four inches taller then her. "I've never seen you around before."

Arick nodded again, trying to hide the mark away from the girls view. She giggled, seeing his attempt.

"You can go with Denzel," she said, pointing down towards the alley opening. "They're taking him too."

Arick glanced down to where she pointed to see a small truck parked out on the street where the alley met the outside city. The driver was a fat and burly man that was helping a young brown haired boy into the back.

"To where?" Arick asked.

"Somewhere where she'll help," the girl answered. "You can take her as well." She said, pointing at Kinno. "If your lucky she'll have a place for you to sleep."

Arick thanked her, and walked over to gently pick up Kinno in his arms, and carried her out of the alley with the pig tail girl following them out.

Waiting for them on the curb of a busy street was the silver pick up truck. Arick saw the young boy he had seen earlier unconscious, laid in the bed with a girl of the same age watching over him. Arick stepped into back carefully with Kinno in his arms. She stirred slightly as he settled her down to lye on her side with her head resting in his lap. With his legs crossed, he sat down, resting Kinno's head and looked over the side of the truck.

The young pig-tailed girl stood next to the vehicle, talking with the driver before looking over to him. She smiled, and then waved good bye as the engine started and they drove off.

His eyes tore away from the passing city, and up to the curious girl that stared at him. She was young as well, with dark hair tied into a bun with a red ribbon.

"I'm Marlene," she said, introducing herself already. Her large brown eyes scanned over Kinno, and then back to Arick.

"Is it just her, or do you have the stigma too?" she asked after the truck drove over a bump, her young, high pitch voice showing genuine concern for the both of them.

"Stigma?" Arick asked. Marlene looked down at Kinno and pointed at her neck. Confused even more, Arick gently turned Kinno's head and glanced at the mark that marred her skin. Something told him he had seen this before.

"What is it?" he asked after carefully placing Kinno's head back into his lap. Marlene tilted her head a little, confused.

"You don't know?" she asked.

Arick shook his head.

"It's called geo-stigma," she explained. "It's a disease without a cure that attacks the body with pain. Sometimes it can kill." 

A disease without a cure. Those words repeated in his mind like an echo. He glanced down at Kinno, whose eyes were closed tight and her body relaxed. He wondered if she herself had expiereienced an attack like he had in the alley. They were both infected with a possibly deadly disease. Was he the one that gave it to Kinno?... His thoughts wandered deeper into a darker state of mind.

"Tifa will take care of both of you," Marlene said assuringly, alarmed at the worried expressiont that had spread across his face. He looked up at Marlene, wondering why the name Tifa sounded familiar to him, but he didn't ask Marlene who Tifa was. He knew he would soon find out for himself.

The truck drove on until it stopped in front of a large tavern where a bright neon blue sign glowed "Seventh Heaven". A tall woman with long black hair walked out of the door as the engine of the truck shut off. She wore a tank top and skirt, waving at the driver as he stepped out. Arick carefully lifted Kinno and jumped off the side, while the woman came and helped carry the boy Denzel from the bed of the pickup truck. The woman he assumed was Tifa looked over at him as she took Denzel into her arms.

"Welcome back," she said, turning around and walking back to the tavern. Marlene walked by her side while Arick followed with confused eyes. They walked pass the bar into a back room where four beds were spread across from each other in a large spacious room. Tifa layed Denzel on one, while Arick gently laid Kinno in another across from him. Arick covered her with the quilt, wondering what Tifa would do to help them if the disease was incurable. He waited by Kinno's side as Tifa attended to Denzel, removing a bandage from the boys forehead before turning her attention to Kinno.

"Where's her infection?" Tifa asked, grabbing a fresh strip of gauze.

"On her neck," Arick replied. She slowly turned Kinno on her side, and examined the mark. Tifa bit her lip, and grabbed some tape and cut the gauze into a square shape, adhering it like a bandage to the back of Kinno's neck. When she finished, she walked out, gesturing at Arick to follow her out. Marlene stayed behind at Denzel's bedside.

Tifa walked over to a sink where a pile of dishes awaited her. She filled it with water and soap.

"I knew i'd see you again," she said, starting to scrub at a glass cup. "How'd you get back?"

She obviously knew who he was, Arick thought. Maybe she could fill in some of his memory that was still blank.

"I dunno," he replied. "I didn't even know I have been here before." 

Tifa nodded in understanding, grabbing another dish. "Cloud told me you had amnesia."

An image of a man with tall spikey blonde hair entered his mind, the one that had told Terra to be careful of teleporting.

"Why was i here before?" he asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

"You were looking for a new home, claiming your world had been destroyed," Tifa answered non chalantly, still washing. "I asked Cloud to help you. But i didn't have Terra in mind."

"You know Terra?" Arick says with curiosity. 

Tifa nodded. "Only because Cloud knows her," she explained. "But enough of that. You can stay here as long as you need to. But I do need some help around here," she said, looking over to him with a smile.

Arick nodded, appreciating her offer. He turned around, heading back into the room to be beside Kinno. She was still unconscious and asleep, resting comfortably. He sat cross-legged next to her, glancing down at his infected arm. He wondered if he was the cause of Kinno's stigma. The thought ate away at him inside, but uncertainty kept him from running away in guilt. He had to protect her, not abandon her to a disease that would pain her body.

He stroked her gently, the thought still haunting his mind as he looked out the window into a darkening sky.


	28. Kinno Freaks

His fist cracked against her jaw, fracturing parts of the bone. Terra fell to the floor, paralyzed with the pain of over a dozen injuries inflicted on her body. Her sea green hair fell freely over her bloodied and battered face.

"That's still not the answer," a sly voice said. A heavy black boot fell in front of her eyes.

Terra screamed as a hand pulled violently on her hair, lifting up her head to face him eye to eye. Every time she glanced at the platinum hair and the green eyes, she felt the singing hatred for the father of her children.

"Where are they?" he asked again.

"Fuck you Kadaj," she spat, feeling her body tremble and her eyes watering. Kadaj dropped her back to the floor and stood up. He looked down at her, a smirk crossing his face.

"We can do this for a long time," he said, pulling out a small silver knife. He kicked her hard across the floor, breaking another rib in her chest.

Terra coughed blood in a splatter on the floor next to her as Kadaj slowly walked towards her, brandishing the knife with a maniacal grin. The other two stood in the back, smiling sadistically, bearing similar features to the vessel they had all once been a part of.

Back at Seventh Heaven, Arick glanced over at Kinno as she stirred in her sleep. It was halfway into the night and he hadn't done anything except sit and think over and over the same things. Did he give Kinno the stigma? Would he ever see Kairi again? Would he ever figure out the random flashbacks that passed through his mind every now and then?

He needed something to do, something to keep his mind off things. He stood up, watching Kinno until her movements ceased and she was at ease once again. The battle with Adel must've been completely exhausting for her to still be asleep like this. Kinno didn't seem built for battle, but she still fought as a skilled warrior.

Turning away, he walked through the door and back into the bar. Instantly he heard the buzz of activity from the peak of business hours. The bar was full, and almost every chair and table was occupied by men drinking, talking and laughing. In the middle of it all was Tifa, running back and forth with a tray of glasses, in a rush to serve as many of her customers as possible. She spotted him standing their, watching her place multiple drinks down at one table, and walked over to him.

Remembering what she had said to him before, and smiled. "Need some help?" he asked her as she approached him. Tifa nodded vigorously.

"Gather up all the empty and abandoned glasses," she said, handing him the empty tray and taking off to answer another order of drinks.

Arick worked tirelessly for hours, gathering glasses and washing them in a constant cycle. Time seemed to pass so much faster when he was busy with his hands, and it worked perfectly. Soon, the evening business rush slowly began to diminish, and the patrons slowly began to disappear. Arick finished washing a set of dishes, setting them on the drying rack before making his way back to the floor. More glasses awaited him as he grabbed an empty tray to gather them together.

A loud scream passed through the wall, and the tray dropped to the floor as Arick dashed into the spare room without a thought. Kinno was screaming and writhering in her bed, fully conscious and obviously in pain.

He jumped to her side, picking her up and hugging her tightly against his chest. She fought and struggled against him, confused and scared. He took the beating with patience and endurance, knowing what she was feeling and waited for the attack to pass.

He suddenly felt a sharp pain across his face that threw him off. He stumbled back, clutching the side of his face, staring at Kinno. Her body was shifting between her heartless form and her human form, her limbs changing and changing back in a blink. Her hand had changed into a talon, which she had unknowingly used to claw at him. Her body settled to her human form as she collapsed to her knees, coughing as the attack passed away.

She heard Arick behind her, and glanced over her shoulder to see his face bleeding with a long cut. Her eyes widened as she realized it was him she was struggling against. Seeing the blood running down the side of his cheek, she stared at her hand in wide eyes, realizing what she had done. Without a word, Kinno jumped to her feet and ran, leaping out the open window.

"Kinno!"

She could hear his cries as she ran into the darkness of the city. The transformation into her heartless form took over, and completed itself. She stumbled a little as her tail grew out behind her before she regained balance. Tears swept from her eyes that misted into the breeze, the guilt of hurting Arick driving her feet to run faster. The thought that she was a danger to him completely torturing her mentally.

Arick jumped after her, seeing her form slowly grow smaller as she gained distance from him. He yelled her name, running forward to gain momentum before dropping to a crouch, and leaping into the air.

"I can help," A deep growling voice said suddenly in his mind as he brought power to his stones of air.

Arick felt a jolt of pain ripple through his shoulder blades as a pair of black and purple dragon wings unfurled from his back and spread wide, catching wind he had summoned and sending him lying at an incredible speed.

He flapped his newly acquired wings a few times and passed over Kinno. The wings disappeared with a single thought and he dropped to the ground in front of Kinno's path. He caught the frightened girl in his arms before she could turn and run from him again. Kinno collapsed, crying into his arms.

He nuzzled against her, trying to comfort her, feeling his shirt becoming wet with tears. "Why did you run?" he asked gently, stroking her back.

"I hurt you," she mumbled over her tears, sniffling. Arick smiled slightly to himself.

"Its nothing," he told her. "It's nothing but a scratch. Nothing to worry about." He held on tight, feeling her scales pressing against his skin. Kinno glanced up, trails of tears glistening on her cheeks. She saw the cut had already dried and scabbed over.

"I thought...I thought it was worse..." she said, remembering all she had seen was blood. Arick sighed in relief, happy that she finally was calming.

"It'll heal in like a day," he said. "Come on. Let's go back." He suggested, wanting her to be inside.

Kinno nodded, and turned around, her arm still wrapped around Arick for comfort. He held her close, conscious of the dangers of walking in the dead of night.

Something suddenly alarmed Kinno. She felt danger was close, and her tail started twitching rapidly.

"Give up the child," a quiet voice demanded from the dark. Arick glanced over his shoulder, pushing Kinno ahead of him and turned around. Kinno felt a deepening fear growing as she saw a tall shadowed form standing a few feet from them.

Arick stepped in front Kinno protectively, narrowing his eyes at the mysterious shadow.

"What do you want?" Arick asked, taking a defensive stance, ready for anything. All he could see was long silvery hair before his vision suddenly went completely black.


	29. Together Again

Kairi had stayed quiet on a seat inside the gummi ship the entire flight. She thought of nothing else but of her brother, causing her worry and anxiety. The others wondered the fate of Kinno and Arick after Kairi's rescue from Hollow Bastion, and why he had disappeared from Agrabah.

Riku was only concerned about Kinno as he piloted the ship. He paid no attention to the others, distancing himself from them. They had finally discovered the black and purple mark that had appeared on his left shoulder yesterday. He had to lie and claim it suddenly appeared. Aurora had examined it several times, but she couldn't understand what it was. He didn't tell them about the painful attacks he had felt that had occurred over the past few nights. The others had enough on their minds. They didn't need anything else to worry about.

When they had returned to Traverse town after rescuing Kairi and sealing Hollow Bastion, Cid had given them coordinates to the world where Arick and Kinno had last been spotted.

Now they were on there way to see Cid's friend who had informed him of their location, a man by the name of Cloud. Somehow the name was familiar to Riku, but he had said nothing about it.

The ship came out of the warp hole, and a large swirling planet came into view.

"Were almost there," Riku warned the others. The others all headed to the teleport machine that Leon had installed earlier, saving them the trouble of landing directly while the ship would orbit the planet. He set the controls on the ship to neutral, and made sure his sword was sheathed at his waist. He joined the others in a metal chamber, and they were instantly transported to the front of Tifa's bar.

A motorcycle was parked outside the door of the tavern, a tall blonde spiky haired man that Arick had seen in his memories standing beside it with a long sword placed over his back was waiting for them.

Riku stared at Cloud with confusion. Riku could swear he knew this man. But then, again, he knew nothing about him except a name.

"Who are you?" Riku asked. Cloud only looked at him with deep blue eyes and shook his head.

"Your sister is in trouble, and that's all you need to know," he said. "Follow me."

Arick landed back on the ground, bending his knee and clutching his shoulder. Blood seeped through his fingers where the bullet had torn through to his bone. Arick had been blinded before he could even glance at his opponent, and fighting blind wasn't something he was use to. His other senses took over. Now he was fighting a shadow. A shadow with guns. He couldn't see Kinno trembling behind him, her mind and body paralyzed with dark memories that were caused by the very sight of the man who was fighting Arick.

"Will you give up yet?" the man asked. His voice was quiet and subtle, almost like an obedient child. Arick heard the click of a gun loading another bullet into the barrel.

"Let me fight," the deep growling voice of Tiamat said inside his mind. "Summon me to your body."

Why not? Arick thought. His body was useless without his vision. "Go ahead," he replied mentally.

"I asked if you are surrendering," the man asked again.

"Never." Arick's body suddenly changed, his height becoming three sizes bigger, black diamond scales grew from his skin has he transformed into the dark dragon cousin of Bahumut.

"You will die," Tiamat growled. He didn't need his eyes. Tiamat lunged forward, swinging his powerful talons into the enemy. He felt his claws catching little flesh, but he definitly had scarred a wound. The man jumped into the air with his waist bleeding, raining bullets that bounced off his rock hard scales. Tiamat spread his wings and flew straight up, blowing fire towards his opponent. The man flipped to dodge the attack, continuing his assault with his pistols. Tiamat chased after him, swiping, breathing fire in a powerful offence.

Cloud and the others came racing down the alley, seeing the giant dragon battle with one of Kadaj's gang. Cloud and Riku drew their swords as they approached, but they were not needed. Seeing he was outmatched and soon outnumbered, the man fired the last few rounds before dissapearing and running off into the dark night.

Tiamat's form evaporated, leaving Arick to fall to the ground, unconcious and exhausted. Cloud caught him in his arms before he crashed onto the concrete. Riku rushed to his sister, who suddenly snapped to her senses at the sight of her brother. Heavy tears were flowing down her face as she hugged tight to Riku, her fear still coursing through her body and mind.

"Kinno, whats wrong?" Riku asked, holding his sister, feeling both relief and alarm. Kinno shook her head, unable to explain what had happened.

"Come on," Cloud said, turning around. "Lets get back to Tifa's."

Cloud layed Arick on the bed as soon as they arrived while Riku sat down with Kinno, trying to comfort her. She had stopped trembling, and could only sit their, encircled in the protective arms of her twin, trying to think of what she had seen in her memories. Kairi and Aurora stood by Arick's side, worried and hoping he would be okay. The wound on his shoulder had been wrapped in a torn cloth of Aurora's shirt.

"What happened?" Tifa asked, carrying in some drinks for them all.

"They were attacked by Yazoo," Cloud answered, standing up. "He's exhausted from battle, but he'll be fine."

"Are you two gonna be ok?" Tifa asked, handing water to each of the twins. Riku nodded, taking a sip as he wondered what he could do to help his sister. Kinno was still in her heartless form, unable to change back from so much mental stress.

"You all need to rest," Cloud said. "We'll talk tommorrow."


	30. Another Memory

Arick's home world was nothing but natural beauty. Few man made materials existed, and his people lived in harmony with nature. Hills overflowing with grass, bushes, meadows and flowers surrounded the small valley where a shallow river ran through, serving as the water supply to the small village of wooden huts that lay at the bottom of the valley.

After years of searching for his sister, Arick was convinced she had been taken from his world. He had traveled to every kingdom and village he could, in search of and following a faint trail of witnesses admitting to seeing the young girl, each giving him a mixed story. All he could gather was that she followed a tall cloaked figure without any struggle or force. Soon the stories and sightings dwindled to nothing. It was like they're was no more proof of their existence.

Living as a fugitive from the police, bounty hunters and assassins, Arick was aided by loyal subjects, hiding him in odd places because they believed his part of the truth. All those hiding and being chased led him here, to the quiet village of simple farmers. He had dyed his violet red hair to blue, blending in with the youth of the village who aimed to train and master a one of the five elemental powers, and dying your hair symbolized what element you specialized in. Arick had mastered all five elements, being an elite royal prince meant he was trained daily from a young age to control the massive powers contained inside the stones that he had been born with embedded on different parts of his skin. Ledgend told that all of the males with royal blood were blessed with shards of the original elemental stones that created this world.

Arick personally felt that his specialty was water, as he was one of the few element masters to be able to freeze liquid into ice. Ever since he had started living a new adoptive family, he helped out with the daily chores of farming, and soon earned a reputation around the townsfolk of their new protector. He had driven away wild and dangerous animals that had been attacking their crops and herds, and also aided with the capture and sometimes execution of local criminals.

One day, he was outside in the river, practicing his skills along with perfecting his fighting style. Collums and pillars of water rose at his command as he began a precise pattern of kicks and punches, and the water trailed his movement to add more force to his attack on the air. If a true enemy stood in front of him, they would be cut and battered into pieces before they could ever move.

"Arick!" his new mother called out from their home. He stopped, allowing all the water to splash back into the river. She was a kindly woman whose beauty was only matched by her love and cooking. "Grab your sister and come in for lunch!"

He nodded, and gazed downriver at the small group of young girls that were playing and splashing each other. Among them was Leline, his younger sister that reminded him a lot of Kairi with the exception that she had long black hair.

"Leline!" he called. "Lunch!"

The young girl looked up and nodded. She said goodbye to her friends and ran downstream towards the one she knew as brother. She tackled him playfully, making them both fall into the water. Arick's face submerged momentarily he hugged Leline tightly and managed to stand up. He swung her around in the air, both laughing with delight. He carried her back to the shore, and let her feet return to the ground.

"Here," Arick said, waving his hand over her head. All the water on her skin and clothes flew into his hand, gathering to make a small sphere. Lelene giggled as she felt instantly dry. She hurried off towards the house. Arick watched her go before drying himself off.


	31. Guilt

A cold splash over his left eye woke Arick from his dreams of home in a startled panic. He sat up with a gasp, but several hands tried to push him back down. His vision was still black, and feeling threatened, the stones responded by setting his body alight with flames.

"Arick!" he heard amongst the yells of burning pain as all the hands quickly let go. The familiar voice flashed an image in his mind, calming him almost instantly as the flames died.

"Kairi?" he asked, unsure.

A tight hug wrapped around his torso in a cry of joy as his sister embraced him. He blinked a few times, moving his hands to feel the warm flesh of of Kairi before hugging her back tightly, closing his eyes as they warmed with tears.

"Kairi…" he whispered, nuzzling her gently.

"I hate to break up your reunion," he heard Tifa say. "But I still need to put another drop in."

Kairi let go and climbed off the bed so Tifa could cure his blindness. Tifa gently pushed up on his chin so he would tilt his head back. He felt another cold drop on his right eye, and the black shroud over his eyes shrank and disappeared, and light filtered into his sight. He blinked a few times, rubbing at his eyes as he leveled his head.

The scene before him was four anxious faces turning into smiles as the black cloud that had covered his eyes disappeared. Arick found himself back at tifa's bar in a small bed. Sora, Aurora, Kairi and Tifa had surrounded him, and out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Riku looking concerned as he sat next to another bed across from Arick's.

Kairi hugged him again, giggling with happiness. Arick couldn't help but smile, hugging her back. Aurora joined Kairi, and then sora.

Cloud was leaning with his arms crossed against the door way, his eyes lost in thought. After they all let go, Arick looked over at the bed, seeing Kinno still in her heartless form, breathing heavily as she slept.

"What happened to her?" he asked. Riku looked up at his question, his expression changing from concern to nothing.

"I was going to ask you the same," he said, giving Arick a hard stare. "She kept shaking and shivering, and she wouldn't stop crying. Cloud had to give her some sleep medicine so she would calm and rest."

As he heard his name, Cloud flinched. He knew the reason behind Kinno's anxiety and stress. Her mind had began to fight the magic that had blocked off certain memories, painful ones that had been triggered by the sight of Yazoo.

"Come on, I'll make you guys some dinner," Tifa said, ending all conversation as she stood up. Arick tossed off the quilt covering over him, getting out of the bed and walked over to Kinno. Riku watched him, glaring almost as if Arick was a possible threat. Arick sighed, wishing he could help her.

Kairi tugged on his hand and pulled him away, following the others to the bar. Riku sat there for a few more minutes, watching kinno. Cloud put a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be ok," he said. "No reason to starve yourself," he added.

Riku looked up at him, trying to figure out the feeling of familiarity that came from Cloud, but once again, he couldn't make sense of it.

Later that night, while the others slept, in a separate room, Riku had moved Kinno to another room, hoping the absolute silence and his presence would help. She had woken up once, and immediately had started crying, screaming out no, crying out his name and something that sounded like noma.

She didn't even realize he was there, saying her name and hugging her to try and calm her down, his own head throbbing painfully. When she had gone silent, her eyes were closed, and her whole body was trembling with her sniffles until she finally slumped back into a deep and hopefully peaceful sleep.

So now he waited and watched, leaning back in a chair he had placed at her bedside, wondering and fighting to stay awake.

Kinno suddenly started groaning and shifting beneath the blanket, her claws ripping apart at the cotton and suddenly she sat up, her eyes snapping open.

"Arick!" she cried out, huffing.

"Kinno, its me!" Riku told her immediately, taking her hand, fearing another fit of crying.

His sister immediately looked to him at hearing his voice, and her once sad eyes were filled with happiness.

"Riku!" She said with joy, hugging him tightly.

Riku suddenly hissed in pain, her hand touching the patch of the mysterious bruising on his shoulder blade.

Kinno let go of Riku, her happiness withering away to worry as she looked curiously at Riku. "Whats wrong?" she asked.

Riku shook his head, forcing a smile. "I'm fine," he said. "How do you feel?"

Kinno shook her head, knowing her brother all to well. "Whats wrong?" she asked again.

Riku sighed, knowing he couldn't hide it from his worried sister, and keeping it secret from her would only make her worry more. He turned his back to her, lifting up his shirt to show her his infection.

Kinno gasped, her eyes going wider. "What happened?" She asked worriedly when Riku finished pulling his vest back over his back.

Her brother shrugged. "I really don't know…" he answered her. "I first felt it when we were in Halloweentown. It was horrible.." He said, remembering how he cried and twitched to the immense pain that had woken him from sleep.

"Are you okay?" she asked, frowning.

"I havn't had any attack recently…" he lies, knowing he had one only a day before they came here. "But its okay." He tells her, smiling a little, trying to keep her calm. "Were together again…" he says, brushing his hand through the back of her hair. Kinno suddenly twitched and gasped in surprise and pain. Riku's pinky had barely brushed her own spot of stigma, the patching that Tifa had placed on there before gone from her sudden transformation.

Riku frowned and quickly takes his hand away. "Whats wrong?" he asks, echoing his sister's first question.

"It hurt…" Kinno whined, her hand going to the same spot, though not touching it. She lifts her hair for Riku to look, and he bites his lip when he sees the dark bruising that's formed over her pale skin.

"Its…its the same thing I have.." he stutters, a stab of heartache going through him. She had it too, and that probably meant she had worse attacks then himself. Kinno had always been weak, especially with sickness.

"then that explains…" she starts to whisper, but trails off as she thinks back to the time when she had attacked Arick. At the time, she didn't realize it, but all the pain that she had felt was centralized on her neck.

"Explains what?" Riku asked.

Kinno shook her head. "Its nothing," she says, looking back at him. "I'm just happy were together again…"

Riku nodded, hugging his sister gently around her sides. Kinno hugged him back, smiling. "Are the others here too?" she asked, and Riku nodded again.

"They're all asleep, but they'll be glad to see you when they wake up," he told her.

Kinno nodded slightly in understanding after they both let go of each other, wanting to see Arick the moment he woke up.

"You need to go back to sleep…you've had a hard day," Riku told her, deciding to wait for tomorrow before he would ask what had caused her ceaseless crying.

Kinno nodded a little, a wave of grogginess coming over her as soon as he said the word sleep. She laid back in her bed, smiling at Riku and gestured with her hand for him to lye next to her.

Riku gave a rare chuckle, remembering how she always asked him to sleep with her after she's had a nightmare when they were little and growing up on the islands. He left his chair laid beside her, making a shush noise as he brushed his hand over her eyebrows, making her eyelids droop close, and Kinno returned to her steady slumber with an anxious expression set into her lips.

Towards the morning sunrise, Kinno stirred and woke up, this time without panic, but her throat was unusually dry. Craving a glass of water, she carefully slipped off the sheets covering her, making sure she didn't wake her brother, not only not wanting him to wake, but knew he would immediately worry about her if she was waking up in the middle of the night.

She lightly tread across the floorboards, hoping she didn't disturb anyones sleep. Making her way into the bar, she grabbed a clean glass and filled it from the water dispenser, sipping it gladly as it soothed her throat. She made her way back, but stopped outside the other bedroom as she saw a small flickering light coming from it, along with the voices of Cloud and Tifa talking. Curious, she tilted her head and stepped closer to the cracked doorway.

"He's not even from this world," She heard Tifa saying. "I don't know how he could have gotten the stigma…"

They were standing over the sleeping Arick, who laid asleep with his arms curled around his sister. Kinno squinted, and on his forearms she made out the large markings that were similar to her own.

"Terra told me his heart was one with Kinno," Cloud said, his voice low. "Maybe when Shiva did the union, Some of genova's cells absorbed into him."

Kinno's eyes went wide with shock, almost dropping her glass, but fear of being discovered made her catch herself, and only a few drops of water spilt onto the floor. Thoughts raced through her mind. Guilt that she had given Arick the painful disease that now racked her body started to attack her already fragile mind. Maybe she had infected Riku in the same way.

"There's not much we can do for now…" Was the last words she heard from Tifa before she walked away, back to the kitchen. With tears in her eyes, she set the cup down on the counter. She had to leave. It was the only way for Arick and Riku to get better. Without another thought, left for the door.


	32. Riku's Rage

Aurora woke to angry yells and screams, finding Arick and Riku standing apart from each other, Riku pointing a finger at Arick.

"She ran because of You!" Riku yelled accusingly, shaking with anger.

"Its not my fault she blames herself so easily!" Arick yelled back in his defense, confused as to why Riku was attacking him so relentlessly. Only minutes ago, Cloud had explained what they were speaking of when he had thought he heard someone standing near the door.

"Shut up! Don't say that!" Riku yelled, swinging his arm.

Aurora quickly got out of her bed, seeing Kairi watching helplessly in a corner as the two argued, Sora standing behind Riku, unable to say anything.

"Whats gotten into you?" Aurora asks harshly, standing between them. "Where's Kinno?"

"Stay out of this!" Riku hissed, glaring at her. "She ran because this bastard made her think she gave him a stigma!"

"I didn't tell her anything!" Arick replied, his own anger rising.

"Shut up!" Riku suddenly screamed, an unexplained rage that had been brewing inside him suddenly exploding as he drew his sword and charged at Arick. Aurora was shoved to the side, and he swung with full force at Arick, who barely had time to jump back, and the very edge of the batwing blade grazed into his shoulder.

Cloud quickly moved to get the girls out of harms way as Arick sent a blast of wind against Riku.

The enraged teenager flew back only a few feet, keeping his balance and stance, blocking most of the force with his sword.

"Stop it!" Arick demanded, gathering more magic in case Riku attacked again.

"I said shut up!" Riku screamed again and charged, swinging his sword with lightning fast swipes. Arick sidestepped twice and ducked, barely dodging and hearing the metal cut the air as it slipped over his head. Riku continued with persistent onslaught, and fearing he would hurt the others, Arick backed flipped through the window, shattering the glass as he took there fight outside.

Riku went after him in mad pursuit, jumping through the broken window and slammed his sword toward Arick, who jumped back to evade the impact, feeling the vibrations through the ground as the sword struck the ground.

Yelling in anger, Riku lifted the sword above his head and with a powerful heave, flung it at Arick.

At the last second, Arick was able to throw his arms up in front of him in an x just as the sword was about to pierce into his chest. A strong wind shielded him before the blade could do any harm, and the sword was blown off, clattering on the ground behind them.

Riku let out a scream of rage and just bolted at Arick, tackling him full on, bent on hurting every inch he could. Arick fell as Riku buried his shoulder into his stomach, forcing out the air from his lungs and momentarily stunning him.

Riku's eyes had completely changed. His iris had gone from green to orange, and the whites had changed to a moonyellow tint. With absolute rage filling his mind, Riku began to mercilessly beat Arick with his fist, striking his face and the sides of his skull.

After a few beatings, Arick managed to regain enough sense to fling up his arm and blast Riku with a spout of flames, lighting the boy's vest on fire. Riku jumped off and rolled on the ground, screaming and withering in his pain. Arick jumped up and ran as fast as he could to the inner city, gasping and stumbling as his mind tried to right itself, his only thought was to get away from all of them as fast as he could.

Riku managed to quell the fire that had burned his clothes and skin, leaving bright red scars against his skin. Growling, he slowly pushed himself up, still smoking from the embers and slowly walked over to grab his sword.

Aurora ran out to him, Cloud and Tifa close behind her. "Riku stop it!" She begged, pushing him as soon as she got close to him. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Riku glared at her, and it sent shivers down Aurora's spine, her eyes widening in sudden fear.

His arm suddenly swung, and sliced across Aurora's stomach. The girl screamed out in pain and fell as Riku turned to run after Arick.

Huffing and gasping, Arick glanced over his shoulder to see if he was being pursued. Nothing. A little relieved, but still panicked, he looked for a place to hide. Cars passed by him with loud roars and ahead he could see a circle court where a large memorial statue that looked like as if it had been burnt to hell stood in the center. Something was ebbing at him, and he couldn't take his eyes off the memorial as he ran closer. He could make out the name of shinra, but nothing else on the placard.

Dodging traffic, he went to stand in front of the statue, looking up at the melted and tattered metal.

"ARICK!"

Riku was across the street, glaring with his sword in hand. Arick cursed and spun around right as Riku leaped high into the air above the circling cars and landed right in front of Arick.

"Why are you doing this?!?" Arick asked, flicking his arms as if igniting the flames that appear around like an aura around his hands and wrists.

"Shut up!" Riku yelled, swinging his sword.

The enraged teenager was suddenly blasted by an unexpected bout of fire that knocked him back dangerously close to the moving cars, the heat singing his skin.

Riku heard a skid of a car before he got to his feet and jumped out of the way and looked back to where arick just was. All he saw was the statue. He looked left, right, everywhere, but all that was there was cars and that stupid statue.

Screaming in rage, Riku swung his sword down, sending an energy blast through traffic. Three cars automatically jumped to the air, there motors exploding as they crashed back to the ground.


	33. A cure?

Kinno shivered with cold as she wandered the back alleys of the slums, seeing the same diseased people, mostly children moaning and wandering the streets. None of them seemed to notice or care about her unusual form, but she still feared them as if she was the ugliest creature alive. She hugged herself to try and keep warm, keeping her head down and stuck to the shadows.

"Are you okay?"

Kinno looked up slowly, trembling in slight fear, but it quickly faded when she saw a young girl with pony tails and a small odd little doll hanging in her hand looking with concern at her.

"I'm fine…" she managed to mumble quietly.

"You don't look fine," The girl replied, bending her head and looking at her curiously. "Are you infected?" she asks, her nose twitching a little.

Kinno blinked in surprise, wondering how the girl knew as she nodded.

"Me too," the girl said without any shyness, pulling down part of her shirt to show the infection bruising on her shoulder. "But there's a truck coming tomorrow, and the man that drives it told me he can cure us."

Kinno thought for a moment. If she was healed, maybe then Riku could be healed too. But she knew she would have to find out if the mans word was true.

"When is he coming?" Kinno asked slowly.

"In the morning, But that's only hours away, so not too long," she says. "Come on, you can rest with us." The girl told her, taking Kinno's hand and leading her through a maze of backalleys and abandoned streets toward the old city until they reached a large open sort of courtyard where many young kids of all ages were laying around on the dead grass, some leaning back against the decaying brick walls, each trying there best to get some sleep despite the pain and sickness that racked there bodies.

The feeling of sickness was almost overwhelming to Kinno as she followed the girl, but11 was to shy to voice anything to the girl.

"Attack!" Someone yelled, and suddenly there was a commotion of running feet and someone screaming in pain.

"What's going on?" Kinno asked, turning to the pig tailed girl.

"We found out if someones close by when another is having a stigma attack, it can trigger other stigma cells to attack as well."

As the are was cleared from the running feet of kids crossing eachothers path, Kinno saw the person who was crying in pain. She cringed as she saw Arick writhing on the ground, slamming his purple and blue arms repeatedly against the wall in desperate attempts to deal with the unbearable pain as the sores slowly grew bigger over his forearms.

Kinno felt paralyzed and stunned, looking sad and horrified at the suffering and pain she had given him. She felt a jolt through her legs and was able to move them, turning away and bursting into heavy tears, looking away and crying into the young pig tail girls shoulder, who could only hug her gently, not sure why the girl had gone from shy timid to emotionally distressed within seonds of seeing a boy come down with a stigma attack.

A few minutes later, the girls shoulder was soaked in salty tears and Aricks cries of pains had diminished to small whimpers as he layed on his back, breathing slowly.

The pig-tail girl patted Kinnos back and gestured for her to look back as some of the other boys approached Arick slowly, making sure his attack was over completely before they helped him up and walked him over to a large basin of steaming hot water that was set over a gas flame generator that they had managed to steal from a local soup kitchen and used it for events such as this. It was unknown why a mixture of hot water and salt killed the aching after affects of a stigma attack, but they didn't really care. As long it brought some kind of relief, they didn't need to know why it worked.

Arick dipped both his arms inside, hissing a bit as the heat stung him a little, but the healing came fast, and a huge relief waved through his mind and boy. He sighed deeply, just standing there and breathing with his arms dunked in warm water.

Kinno watched, trying not to get spotted by him, her fear of making his stigma worse ebbing at her conscience. But of course, her attempt was useless as Arick felt a twinge in his heart and looked straight at her, looking surprised and slowly removed his arms.

"Thanks," he said to the two twelve year olds that had helped him over as before he ran over to Kinno, embracing her before she could say anything in protest. She struggled a little in his arms, but gave up quickly and broke into tears again, going limp.

Arick sighed, picking her up by her legs and carried her to a small corner where he curled over her protectively. He stroked her forhead gently, trying to get her to calm down. He knew exactly what she was crying about, but couldn't think of anything to say. For all he knew, she DID give him this horrible disease, but he didn't care if that were true.He was here because he heard there was a cure. Maybe that why she came here as well, but he couldn't be too sure of that either.

After almost an hour of straight crying, Kinno was calm and asleep, her dried up tears caking on her cheeks. Arick smiled, knowing she was okay for the moment. Leaning his head back against the hard brick wall behind him, he shut his eyes, the question of whether or not he should tell Kinno about Riku running through his thoughts before he nodded off to sleep.

"Come on, the trucks here!"

Arick woke up to here the voice of the young girl and the low rumble of an engine. He yawned loudly, looking down to kinno, who had tucked her head against his chest, still fast asleep. He smiled, deciding to let her continue sleeping as he carefully stood up, trying to keep her in his arms without lousing his balance. He swayed and stumbled a little, but finally managed to stand firmly on his feet with the still sleeping Kinno in his arms.

The whole courtyard was emptied as all the children had hopped into the back of the mans truck without question, scooting over as much as they could to make room for everyone. Arick and Kinno were last inside, two of the twelve year old boys hoisting Kinno inside for him as he prepared to climb in. He glanced down at the man standing beside the driver's side door.

He was unusually tall, with long platinum hair and wearing a long black trench coat. His blue-green eyes locked with Arick's, and he smiled. A cold shiver chilled his spine, making Arick hesitate for a moment. Something was very familiar about him, but he wouldn't catch what it was.

"Arick!" One of they boys yelled in worry, and his head snapped back to the rear of the truck where Kinno was now twitching and moaning.

Forgetting all about the strange driver, Arick hopped up onto the cold steel bedding and quickly pulled Kinno onto his lap as he sat crowded in the center of the bed, hushing her gently and stroking her forehead again.


	34. The Trap

The truck rumbled on for hours, leaving the perimeters of the city on a small dirt road that seemed to lead to a large, dark and desolate forest. Arick was too distracted with making sure Kinno was comfortable and in no danger of having a sudden stigma attack to notice how far they were. After being held tightly in his arms for so long, Kinno had calmed down a lot from when they had started the long and bumpy ride. Arick never relinquished his grip on her the entire time, keeping silent and isolated from the other talkative children.

As he thought, the truck drove into the trees, going in as far as it could before the trees became to dense, and he turned off the ignition.

When the driver stepped out, that sense of familiarity hit Arick in the back of his mind, but he didn't think much more of it. Standing up and lifting the still sleeping Kinno in his arms, he leaped off the truck skillfully with out disturbing her slumber. His bare feet felt hard dirt, with nothing to really poke his now callused foot. Around him were tall, luminescent white trees and what looked like to be old destroyed ruins of an archaic society.

"This is the forgotten city!" He heard one of the boys exclaim. "I've read about this place!"

Fitting name for such old ruins, Arick thought to himself, glancing at the driver to find the man was already staring back, smiling that chilling smile.

"We don't have far to walk children," he announced in a kind, shy voice. "Follow me to the lake."

In a straight, single file line, all the children followed the mysterious man through the haunting forest, passing by more pieces of structructures and some statues. Suddenly, the trees made a large clearing with a lake in the center of it all. Already, dozens of children were there, glancing at the newcomers as the joined the circle around the lake, staring across the waters at a large, pearl white and odd looking structure that spiraled upward in waves and dozens of small spikes jutting out the sides.

In front of it was a short, yet also somehow familiar figure that dressed the same way as the driver of the truck, almost looked exactly like him as well with a shorter hair cut. He wore the same black trench coat, had the same platinum hair, light green eyes. Obviously they were brothers, along with a third who dragged a chest up to the one with short hair. This one was slightly different, with shorter, sleeked back hair and wearing a regular black leather jacket and similar black pants. A strange machine was mounted on his arm, something that looked like it could be a weapon of some kind.

All the children watched and waited for the one in the center of both, hoping to hear what they had been told, that there was a cure for coming here.

The man who had driven the truck walked slowly up to his brother and whispered into his ear.

"The trap is set…he hasn't recognized me at all"

Kadaj nodded, grinning with delight. Everything was going perfectly. He turned to loz, and motioned for him to come close. "tell the boy to keep him and the girl hidden until this is over," he told him in a low voice. Loz nodded before leaving behind the statue as Kadaj looks up at the children, his face lighting up by the lake waters as he prepared to speak.

Arick didn't pay much attention to the speech, something about the planet, mother, and some kind of legacy. He didn't like how pale Kinno was getting, and she wouldn't stop moaning and shaking while the man spoke.

"And now, I will heal you" Arick heard and looked up. This is what he had been waiting for.

"Do…as I do…" Kadaj finally finished, stepping into the water. The clear blue turned to a murky black as he stepped into lake, a cloud of it traveling through the water, reaching out toward the children on the bank.

Kinno let out a loud moan, shaking and wriggling in her sleep as if to try and break out of his arms. Arick tightened his grip, hushing her again as he followed the other children into the lake, wading waist deep.The further he got into the water, the more she seemed to shudder and struggle.

"Kinno, calm down…please.." Arick begged, scooping up a little of the water with one hand and let it drizzle over her mouth. "here, drink this…" he told her gently.

Her lips sensed the moist droplets and her tongue lashed out on command, lapping it up. Arick let rest fall into her mouth before he scooped up more into his palm and let her drink more. Her shivers and moans stopped almost immediately, and her body visably relaxed in his arms.

Had her eyes been open, he would have seen her light green eyes flash, and would have never taken the water. With a relieved sigh, Arick tilted his head down, and drank his own portion of the dark water.

All conscious thought in his mind went blank, and his head straightened up as he leveled out his body, and his bright blue eyes now changed to a light green.

Kadaj and the others watched him with amused grins as he fell into the bliss of mind control.

"Perfect!" Kadaj exclaimed, no longer caring who would hear him. Riku came out from behind the structure, dragging a struggling Marlene in one hand, holding his sword in the other, his eyes glowing that same glow Arick had seen before when they had fought.

"No! no! lemme go!" Marlene yelled, pushing against him uselessly as Riku handed her to Loz.

"Did he bring her?" Riku asked Kadaj as the children walked out of the water, except for Arick, who stood still in the waist deep water.

"As promised," Yazoo answered, gesturing his hand at the center of the water.

Riku eyes went wide when he saw Kinno unconscious in his arms, and dashed into the water, splashing and wading toward them. Taking Kinno out of Aricks arms, he sighed, looking down at her.

"Is she okay?" he asked them.

"Her body's been stressed and is resting, but yes she's fine," Yazoo assured him.

"Good," Riku replied, carrying her to the shore and handing her to one of the larger children. He turned back to Arick, holding up his sword and pointing it at him. "Let me fight him."

Kadaj gave a hearty laugh and nodded, looking forward to watching a good fight as Arick slipped his wrist blades over his hands.


	35. Arick Vs Riku

Another tree collapsed in two pieces as the two teens battled senselessly, Arick's blank expression never changing. Marlene watched in anguish as Riku swung his sword again, close to severing Arick's head from his shoulders if a magical wind didn't push the boy back in time to dodge.

Both were covered in cuts and blood, Riku burned on his left shoulder from a flame attack. But it seemed he had this fight dominated. Arick didn't show the cost of his injuries, because he couldn't feel that his knee was shattered, or the giant cut on his side. Kadaj found this amusing as Riku tried to annihilate his old friend, only venting unjust rage that was fueled by whatever possessed him.

Arick was thrown into the air again, and Riku's sword, charged with magic, swung down at the center of his chest and he fell like a meteor into the lake, creating a giant splash as he hit the water.

Riku fell back to the ground on the lakes shore, wading in after Arick's floating body. But before he could get close enough to kill him, He was blocked by his sister, who suddenly appeared in front of the fallen Arick, the same blank possessed stare in her eyes.

"Out of the way kinno!" Riku yelled angrily, raising his sword, his eyes glowing that strange orange-yellow glow arick had seen before.

Kinno only stood there, her eyes as blank as Arick's. She gazed up at him, watching as her brother raised his sword in menacing anger.

"OUT OF THE WAY!" he screamed at her, threatening to cut her in half. Again, she stood like a frozen statue, gazing into his strange eyes.

With a final yell, he threw his sword down with what would be a crushing blow, had he not moved barely to the left and missing Kinno completely, a wave of energy throwing a massive wave of water at the other shore.

Riku was huffing, his sword in the water where it hit the lake bottom, now splashed in water and crying, the orange glow flickering in and out.

"How cute…" Kadaj's sly voice cut into his ears as the remnant of his father stepped close behind him. "She loves him to give her just enough will power to protect him, even under my control."

"Shut up!" Riku yelled in rage, punching the water. And before he could react, Arick had gotten to his feet in the water and leaped over Kinno, connecting his foot with Riku's face with a loud crack. Riku flew backward into the water, which rocketed him into the sky and left him weaponless as he spun around in the air until the jet of water that Arick summoned died, and he fell rapidly back to the lake where Arick was waiting with his wrist blades ready to dice him into pieces.

Kinno tackled him from the side just in time before her brother hit the water, protecting Riku just as she had protected Arick, and tried to hold Arick down from retaliating.

Riku dashed for his sword as Arick used the water to blast Kinno off of him and onto the shore where she landed hard against a rock and was knocked unconscious, a small splash of blood leaking from her temple.

Arick got to his feet and brought up his left wrist blade to block Riku's swing, deflecting it perfectly and brang his other fist around into Riku's cheek, with a spout of water behind it that added a savage blow to his skull.

Riku spun around and fell down in a daze, his face just barely above the water level. Arick put his palm flat and rose it up in the air, raising the water with it and entirely covering Riku's face, choking off his oxygen.

A loud gunshot from the left caught the attention of the laughing triplets who had been watching the battle between the three, and Arick's left shoulder exploded in blood before he could drown Riku, throwing him back with a shocked look of pain in his eyes.

Kadaj and Yazoo drew there weapons and fired into the red cloak that flew through the trees, while Loz picked up Marlene to grab the unconscious Kinno.

At that same moment, there was a loud roar of Clouds motorcycle as he drew close and jumped from his bike, spinning two swords in his hands and adding to there opponents. In all the confusion and battle, the brainwashed children stood still, waiting for orders.

Riku pushed his upper body out of the water, choking and spluttering, glaring up with rage at Arick's fallen body as the cloak descended upon it, firing at Kadaj with a pistol.

"Oh no you don't!" Riku screamed, picking up his sword and charged at the cloak. He blocked two bullets that almost hit his chest before the cloak flew off with Arick's body gone.

Riku yelled to the air his anger, and turned to see Cloud fighting Yazoo and Kadaj to get at Marlene and Kinno.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Vincent dropped Arick to the ground as soon as he felt he was at a safe distance. Cloud had served as an excellent distraction, allowing him to take the child quickly.

He took a healing potion form his cloak and gently poored it over the bullet wound on Arick's shoulder and all his other injuries. The liquid sizzled and closed the gashes as soon as it touched his oozing blood.

He wondered if Cloud was successful in getting Kinno back. Even if he didn't, she was useless to them now that the three were separated. Without Arick's heart close to hers, Kinno's genova cells would remain dormant to the reunion, until of course, if they got the three children together again. And Vincent had no intention of allowing that to happen.

"uu….uuggh…." Arick groaned, blinking awake with his eyes returning to there normal blue color.

Vincent grunted, his theory proven. It took either extreme pain or being knocked unconscious for the children to break away from the control of Kadaj. "Welcome to the forgotten city, Child," he growled in a deep voice.

"Kinno!" he gasped, sitting up immediately.

"She's fine for now," Vincent told him. "They won't harm her until the reunion is complete."

Arick took a deep sigh, looking up at the tall vampire with a mix of confusion and fear. "Who are you?" he asked weakly, feeling a supernatural presence emanating from the stranger.

"My name is Vincent, and I am a friend of Clouds," He answered. "You are Arick Valence, rightful heir to the throne of Menea, and the first lost child of Power and Fate."

Arick blinked, his confusion growing over his fear. "Do you…do you know me?" he stuttered.

Vincent shook his head. "Only through Cloud and Terra."

Arick nodded, taking a deep breath. "So…your just helping me?" he asked.

Vincent nodded. "As soon as Cloud meets us here, I'm taking you to see Terra. We have much to discuss about your destiny, and the destiny of your friends."


	36. Riku And Arick, Their Final Battle

("you carry the greatest weight of all of them," she said in a hoarse voice, her body fighting off the fatigue the healing magic was trying to force on her mind.)

Arick sat on the rooftop overlooking the plaza where the burned memorial of old midgar was surrounded by a circle of young children and an angry crowd that shouted protests and demands to stop at the two men attaching chains to the top of the shattered mass of stone. In the middle of all of this, Riku stood in front of Kinno, his eyes glowing that eerie yellow, his sword in hand and glaring out at the mob, waiting patiently for Arick to come to her rescue. The young girl was unconscious, her skin pale against the bright sun as she laid on the ground, chains bounding her legs and arms together.

("whatever side has their influence over you is what will determine the final victor of this ancient battle," she told him. His heart felt like a huge weight had just sunk the muscle into his stomach. In other words, she had just told him the fate of thousands of worlds were resting on his shoulders.)

Arick sighed, repeating a mantra in his head that Riku wasn't Riku anymore, and in order to keep Kinno alive, he would have to fight him, whoever he truly was. And if it came down to life and death…he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to truly kill Riku. He glanced to the far left, seeing Cloud staring back at him with ready eyes. He looked to the far left, getting a glance of Cid's blonde hair and the flash of Squalls gun blade behind a wall, all of them waiting for his lead to attack.

("Riku..is no longer himself.." she admitted sadly, a tear coming to her eye as she felt pity for her son. "He is possessed by the spirit Ansem, whose planning to use him to get to you.")

We would have to make his first strike swiftly and precisely if he wanted to keep the advantage of an ambush against them. The moment he would power up, Ansem was sure to sense it and dodge before he could even have a chance to touch him. He looked directly at Cloud, bending his knees as their eyes met, adjusting his feet so they clung to the very corner edge of the roof, nodding at the blonde warrior before launching himself like a rocket straight at Riku, activating his flame stones and becoming a missle of fire that collided with the possessed Riku, catching him completely off guard and driving him into the ground for several feet, the concrete breatking into a jagged trail of rubble in their wake until Arick lost control of his speed and tumbled off Riku, rolling a little before gaining his balance and jumping to his feet, running back through the dispersed crowd that was now screaming in panic from dark panther like creatures that were running rampant through their numbers.

("you MUST rescue Kinno before her father can reach her," she said urgently, as if )

Arick slid under one such creature as it tried to pounce him as he made his way to Kinno, his first priority if Cloud and Leon were unable to rescue her, which at the moment was being prevented by Loz and Yazoo, who fought skillfully against the two swordsmen. Somehow he was thankful that she wasn't conscious as he hacked at the chains with heat, hoping he had stunned Riku long enough to cut through her chains, but that was soon proven wrong as heard a foot step and a swing behind him, and he threw his arm up above him just in time to block Riku's batwing sword from descending fatally into his shoulder, and with his other hand, he pushed against the ground, spinning his lower body with a battle cry and kicked Riku's feet out from beneath him, adding a snap quick with his other leg to Riku's chest as he fell sideways, kicking him a few feet away. Riku tumbled across the ground, but got up again with an angry glare, his yellow eyes flashing and his clothes suddenly changed to a darker uniform that symbolized his allegiance to the heartless.

"Get out of my freinds body!!!" Arick screamed, feeling his rage fuel his magic as he charged head onward into Riku, raising a fist in preperation to pummel and bruise every bit of Riku in oreder to beat out the evil spirit within.

Slash! Arick's chest erupted with pain as the large cut formed across his ribcage and sternum, and he stumbled to the side, throwing up his other wrist blade to block another swing from Riku, and the resulting clash from the metal throws him back and off balance, giving Riku another open shot at his chest.

"Noo!"

Their was a bright flash after Kinno's scream, and suddenly, Riku and Arick reappeared in the middle of the destroyed remains of Old Midgar. Both blinked in surprise, looking around their new surroundings with confusion, but both soon realized whoever moved first would have an advantage, and Arick stomped hard onto the ground, creating a series of explosions, one after another after his enemy, who tried to roll out of its way.

Forseeing this move, Arick shifted its direction to follow him with simple though of his mind and Riku's body suddenly flailed in the air, being pelted by dirt and rock. Suddenly, he span to create a whirlwind, blowing away the attack, leaving him bruised and angry, his eyes flashing that moon lit yellow.

He slashed the air several times in an X pattern, sending blades of green energry flying at the temporarily weakened elemental. Aricks eyes went wide as one caught him on the chest, blowing him back and skidding through the rubble. Before he knew it, Riku was on top of him, and he barely jumped back in time to dodge a crushing blow.

The shockwave of Riku's strike hit him though, throwing him further away, but he quickly recovered, pushing his feet against the gravel and leapt up, crossing his wrists in front of him and colliding them with Riku's sword as the charged each other, bringing them both to a grinding stop, a battle of raw strength between them as both tried to push the other.

"Your not gonna win this...even with your enhanced power," Arick hissed, their heads at eye to eye. Riku grinned that evil grin, and kneed Arick in the stomach, forcing out the air from his lungs hard enough to stun him, and Arick fell, grunting as the hilt of Riku's sword crashed into the top of his skull.

Dazed as he lay flat on his stomach, Arick blinked upwards to glance at Riku, who had pointed his sword downward, gripping the handle with both hands, ready to plunge the point deep into his heart.

"With your death, i can take over this universe," the voice of Ansem declared with a long cruel laugh, and his sword began to descend...

BAM!! Kadaj's body collided Riku's as Cloud Chased after him, kadaj flipping backwards off of him as their battle continued between the bitter rivals. Arick took this moment to jump up, his wrist blades shining readily as he glared at Riku as he got up, and soon, their we were entangled with eachothers blades just as Kadaj and Cloud were.

Back at the main plaza, Vincent and Tifa were treating Kinno, who moaned loudly where she layed. The disease had spread further down her neck and and began to leak over her back and shoulder blades, a mass of infection neither had seen before.

"She's at a critical stage," Tifa said sadly as she gazed upon the marks, feeling pity for her, knowing the painful attacks the stigma brought were intense for her, maybe enough to kill her.

Vincent nodded slowly, his dark eyes looking to the horizon towards Old Midgar, seeing multiple dust clouds rising through the air. "Its on his shoulders to bring the cure," he said simply. "get her on to the highwind, we must take her close to Arick."

Tifa looked up at Vincint, her eyes confused. "Itd be dangerous to mover her into the air," she said warily.

"Her heart is a part of his," Vincint replied. "The closer they're together, their powers increase phenomenally. If he stands a chance of defeating the possesed one, they must be together."

Tifa tilted her head a little, not understanding the man completely, but she had never had a reason to doubt him, and she nodded slightly before scooping the still groaning Kinno into her arms, calling out to Cid as she ran towards the tall pilot.

Once they were in the air, Tifa took Kinno to the medical wing, now able to properly treat her with the equipment Cid had stocked on board. As they flew off toward the deserted waistland, Kinnos eyes fluttered open as she whimpered, struggling on the bed in a sudden panick, her senses a little distorted from her days in imprisonment, and she had no idea where she was.

"Kinno, Kinno, calm down!" Tifa said to her loudly, holding Kinno to prevent further harm to herself.

"Where am i? Wheres Arick?! Riku!" She cried desperatly, her eyes instantly filling with tears.

"Your safe!" Tifa yelled, trying to calm her. "be still!"

"I wanna see my brother!" Kinno whimpered, laying down as she obeyed Tifa's word.

"Were on our way to do that now," Tifa explained to her, sprinkling some healing solution on her wrists where the shackles had cut into her flesh.

Several minutes later, Tifa carried Kinno out to the window, a blanket draped over the young girl to help with her quivers. The wide sphere of glass gave a crystal clear view of the two battles taking palce below. At one end, Cloud and Kadaj fought across the ground near the church, while Riku and Arick fought similiarly closer to the old Shinra factory, exchanging harsh blows and the occasional blast of magic caused explosions around them. Kinno's eyes widened in shock, seeing both her brother and the one she had started to fall in love with cover eachother in deep wounds. Arick's chest had been carved out like a holiday ham at Christmas, his face bleeding in multiple places along with his left arm. Riku's side bled heavily, dripping out as he fought as if the injury didn't exist at all.

She gasped as Arick suddenly leapt onto Riku, grabbing him tightly and closing his eyes as he pulled a desperate move, and a ball of flames exploded from his body, enshrouding both in a firey blaze. Arick and Riku flew in oppisite directions, Arick's clothes sizzling slightly as he floated toward the tall tower that still held a faded image of the Shinra company symbol.

He dragged and skidded across the ground, sliding slowly to a stop just twenty feet from Riku. He struggled to get up, pain wracking his body completely alongside a draing weakness. That last attack had almost taken out his magic reserves completely, and it was hitting him like a drunken hangover. He rested his body weight onto his elbows as he tried to force himself up, spitting out another broken tooth. the whole bottom line of his jaw ached, probably broken judging from how hard Riku's kick had connected so perfectly with his face. He looked up and glanced, his foe laying flat on the ground, his dark uniform now in burnt tatters, parts of his skin a deep warped red and others a complete ashen black, which included the entire left side of his face.

Arick cursed as he fell, and swore even more when Riku began to shakily get to his feet again. He was alot tougher then Arick remembered from the island, giving him unseen difficulty. He was going to louse...

At that moment of doubt, Arick felt something tingle through the stones in his hands, resinating through his body. He blinked, finding his energy returning slightly. He closed his eyes, trying to sense what was feeding him this power, his visions tapping through the black earth stones.

Riku grinned to see Aricks painful struggles, knowing the boy was at his limit. His sword scraped as he stood up, his hand gripping it somewhat loosely, his broken knuckles making it hard to put any hard pressure on the handle.

"No!! Riku, Don't!!!" Kinno screamed from inside the cockpit, struggling wildly against Tifa, who only held her tighter. Her cries went unheard as Riku limped slowly toward the fallen Arick.

"Your done!" He cackled, chuckling in assumed victory. "Your all mine for the taking..."

There it is, Arick said to himself as a feeling of warmth washed over him as he connected with the lifestream of the planet. The mined underground of the destroyed Shinra factory had slowly regenerated its supply of Mako, laying untapped for two years, and now was giving Arick reknewed energy and determination. Slowly, he stood to his feet, his hands sparkling with a strange misty substance.

"I'll never be your vessel..." he growled, spitting out more blood.

Riku laughed, consumed in his thoughts of finally achieving his goal. "Your destiny is darkness," he told him with absolution, brining his sword up to strike. "and I am its begining..."

The lifestream thickened around his hands, swirling and spiraling upward his arms as it was Arick's turn to smile. "I've chosen our destiny," he says with a chuckle of his own. "Its my own to take," and with those last words, he raised his arms parallel to the ground, grinning wider to see Riku's eyes suddenly flash with fear.

"You can't...its impossible.." Riku stuttered, stepping back.

"With destiny...its never impossible.." Arick muttered, and released the buildup of magic he had gathered, a spiral of bright green energy shooting straight into Riku's heart. The boy dropped his sword, screaming in agony, his body paralyzed with his arms spread out in surrender, the light foceing through every part of his flesh until both spirit and body were destroyed, and disappeared in a few twinkles of light.

Riku dropped to the ground, his eyes closed in relief, his normal clothes now back on his body. Arick stood frozen, his arms still out as he breathed heavily, the reality of what he had just done settling into his mind as he felt the absence of Riku's life. The brother of Kinno, who now screamed hysterically on the ship above, struggling wildly against Tifa, who released her as Kinno's mental powers started to explode out randomly, striking a few of the members on the ship, luckily missing Cid.

A tear burned Aricks eye, knowing that Kinno would never speak to him again...

A familliar feeling of cold steel slicing through his flesh suddenly eminated through his stomach, the long sword masamune making a squelch as it penetrated through his back and out his abdomen.

"This is my thanks, for killing my son," A deep voice said behind him before the sword withdrew and Arick collapsed to the ground, cluthcing his stomach as it bled freely, seeing a tall figure in a black trench coat walking towards Riku's dead body before he blanked out.


	37. Aricks Fate

Hysteric crying brought him back to the concious world, and he sat straight up in a start, regretting it the moment he did as he was greeted by the site of Kinno, draped with a blanket, shaking and trembling over the body of Riku, whose clothes had returned to normal, his eyes shut tight and his head laid all the way to the side. He knew this was coming, he knew the moment he had decided that using the power to kill him that this moment would come. That he would have to face Kinno with his deeds. He tried to open his mouth to utter an apology, but no words seemed adequate enough to apologize for killing Riku.

He pushed off the quilts, realizing they were back at Tifa's, and slowly approached her, wondering if being close to her would help him speak. He slowly reached out to place his hand on her shoulder to get her attention, but he drew it back immediatly drew it back as Kinno hissed and whipped around, glaring up at him, and he stumbled back, horrified, but her gaze softened and went back to their normal bliss that was filled with hurt and incredible sadness. She turned away from him, ashamed that she almost attacked him, but at the moment wanting to be alone to morn for her loss.

Arick felt his heart sink, as he interepretted her reaction that she never wanted to see him again. He sniffled a tear, and turned away, walking slowly towards the door. He entered the bar, finding six pairs of eyes looking up at him, two of them full of the same sadness and mourning for Riku that Kinno had. Arick couldn't help but feel ashamed as his sister scooted out from her table and walked over to meet him, wrapping her arms gently around his shoulders.

"Its okay Arick..." she whispered as he broke down into tears in her shoulders, unable to help himself. Sora and Aurora could only sit their in silence, their tears already shed for Riku.

"No..it'll never be okay..." he moaned shakily, wrapping his arms back around Kairi's waist, wishing he could die himself.

"So what does this mean?" Sora asked out of nowhere, looking to Cloud. "If Ansems spirit is gone, what is their left to do?"

"Seal the worlds," Cloud replied simply. "The heartless were just using his power as they do everyone. Just because he's out of the picture doens't mean they won't stop."

Sora nodded slightly, looking to the other siblings as Arick continued to cry into her shoulders. "Will you help us still?" he asked, even though he knew it wasn't the best time for Arick to answer that sort of question, but he had to know if the elemental would still be at his side to help eliminate the darkness.

Arick took a few minutes to look up at Sora with blood shot eyes and nod slightly. "I owe it to him..." He muttered, sniffling.

"Come on," Kairi said, taking his hand and tugging. "Lets take a walk..calm your nerves."

Arick thought for a moment before allowing her to lead him out. "We'll be back in a few minutes," she said to Cloud.

"be careful," Cloud warned. "Sephiroth is still out their."

Arick stopped, looking over at the blonde warrior and tilitng his head. "Sephiroth?" He asked, knowing that name was familliar somehow.

Cloud didn't answer verbally, only tiliting his head towards the door Arick had come out of before. Arick followed with his gaze, not connecting what Cloud was saying, but somehow guessed it had to do with the man that had stabbed him through the stomach after his fight with Riku. He shuddered, reliving the moment with a harsh stab of guilt.

When they were outside, he kept his gaze at the sidewalk, sighing as his sister took his hand, watching him sadly, wishing she knew what to tell him that would cheer him up. But she knew inside her heart their was nothing to say. He had killed the sibling of someone he loved, and even if it was self defense, the feeling of guilt and sorrow was almost endless.

"Excuse me..." a light voice asked softly to the two of them after a few minutes of walking. Arick sniffled a little, and glanced up to see a young woman dressed completley in pink, with a large bow that tied her brown hair into a long pony tail. She had green eyes that were almost as sparkling as Clouds, and Arick could sense a strage spiritual entity eminating from her.

"Can i help you?"Kairi asked, tiliting her head a little in confusion. The woman shook her head gently, a tiny laugh escaping her lips.

"He can," she says, pointing at Arick before turning it around and curling it towards her. "Follow me, and you can help cure your freinds." she said mistily, turning her foot and walking away; Arick looked to Kairi before looking back to the woman, who had stopped at the end of the alleyway, waiting for him.

"I have to go alone..." Arick whispered to his sister, kissing her cheek. "Go back to Tifa's. I'll meet you their."

Kairi looked hurt, but frowned, nodding in understanding. Somehow she knew he was right, no matter how much she was worried about leaving him alone. She left his side, brushing her hand across his before she finallly left, and he turned to follow the mysterious woman, who walked ahead of him the moment he followed. He didn't ask or say a word, merely keeping to himself, still slouhcing in his slump of emotional guilt and self hatred.

After another hour that passed like absolutely nothing, Arick found himself standing in the middle of yesterdays battlefield. She had lead him inside a church, where a field of white flowers had bloomed all across its flooring, a small pond of water quivering silently in the middle. The woman stopped and finally turned around, stepping in front of Arick and tipping up his chin with her fingers as he began tearing up, thinking of yesterday's events.

"Your oppurtunity of redemption is here," she told him softly. "The water is swirling with the lifestream, and within it lies the cure for geostigma."

At the mention of the disease, Arick felt his forearms and chest burn, but he didn't react to it, entranced by the woman and her words.

"All you have to do...is make it rain.." she tells him, and suddenly he found himself alone. He blinked, looking left and right for the mysterious woman, wondering if he was hallucinating the whole thing. No, he couldn't have. Kairi had seen her too in the alley, and no one hallucinated the same thing.

Slowly, he walked over through the flowers, their aroma sending a calm feeling through his senses. He splashed into the pond, the water chilling his barefeet, but yet at the same time soothed him, almost as if it washed away the depression. He sighed deeply, his blue eyes sparkling as he reached the middle of the pond. He stared up at the large hole in the roof above the pond, seeing plumes of thick clouds waiting for him. Smiling, he raised his hands into the air, the water rising with them is a double helix towards the sky. After a few minutes of fueling the weather, he felt a drop splash against his cheek, sending a tickling sensation where it landed. Slowly, the rain fell more rapidly, and he could see a rainbow like sheen reflecting in its water. but soon, he was getting drenched from both the pond and the rain, and the burning pain that had attacked him before was gone, along with the strange bruising.

Back at Tifa's bar, the children were running outside, dancing in the rain with joyous laughter as their stigma was cured. As soon as Kairi realized what was happening, she literally dragged Kinno outside, who though was still in deep depression, coudln't help but enjoy the curing water that splashed gently on her body. After a moment, she cocked her head towards Kairi, blinking. "Wheres...Arick?" she asked with a gravely voice that had been worn down from her crying.

Suddenly, everything froze. Time stopped all around him. The rain drops stayed suspended in mid air, and all he could do was look around in a panic. "What the hell...?" he whispered. Another woman had appeared behind him, one that had met him before.

"Hello Arick. My names Ellone."

Arick's eyes widened a little to hear her speak. "Are you...are you doing this?" he asks, gesturing at the frozen environment around him. Ellone nodded slightly.

"In a way yes..." she said with a low voice. "In truth, its destiny and fate that controlls everything. You should know this, being the chosen child that you are."

"Don't remind me..." he growled lowly, looking away.

"I have to," Ellone replied. "Because this is your chance to change it...to change your destiny. To change Riku's destiny"

Arick froze, staring blankly at the young woman. "How?" he asked with a shocked whisper.

"I'm a time sorceress, from Rinoa's world," she says, getting to her feet. "And i can send you back...to where its you who opened the door. Not Riku."

"And he'll live?" he asked. Ellone nodded.

"Then i'll take it." he said firmly.

"I knew you would," she said, reaching her hand out to his head, placing it gently into his blue hair. He closed his eyes, watching every moment from now back until the day he landed on the island rewind like a videotape, and suddenly he was eight years old, standing in a dark and damp cave, dripping with water and only a single wooden door blocking his way to the other side. He reached out, and pulled the iron handle open, only to be blasted by a flash of pure white light.

To be continued


End file.
